Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce three pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the production of our hardest working renewable resource, one that often gets overlooked in the clean energy debate--hydropower. The first bill I would like to introduce today is the Hydropower Improvement Act of 2011, cosponsored by my colleagues Senators Bingaman, Risch, Cantwell, Crapo, Wyden, Murray, Begich, and Whitehouse, true hydropower advocates. The Hydropower Improvement Act of 2011 seeks to substantially increase the capacity and generation of our clean, renewable hydropower resources that will improve environmental quality and support local job creation and economic investment across the Nation. There is no question that hydropower is, and must continue to be, part of our energy solution. It is the largest source of renewable electricity in the United States. The 100,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity we now have today provide about seven percent of the Nation's electricity needs. Hydro-electric generation is carbon- free baseload power that allows us to avoid approximately 200 million metric ton of carbon emissions each year. Hydropower is clean, efficient, and inexpensive. Yet, despite its tremendous benefits I am constantly amazed at how some undervalue this important resource. Perhaps it is because conventional wisdom dismisses our Nation's hydropower capacity as tapped out. That is simply not the case.…”