Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the ``Twenty-First Century Dams Act,'' which I introduced today. I would like to thank Senators Padilla, Wyden, Stabenow, Peters, Gillibrand, and Bennet, who have joined me in introducing the bill. This bill represents a remarkable and historic coalition of groups that are often at odds: environmentalists, the hydropower industry, and dam safety advocates have come together to advance this proposal to modernize our nation's more than 90,000 dams. This breakthrough agreement is the result of a process launched three years ago and led by Stanford University's Woods Institute and Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, with additional direction from the Energy Futures Initiative. Our Nation's dams serve many important public purposes, including water supply, flood control, recreation, and, where appropriately mitigated, clean energy generation that will help slow climate change. But the dams also block off key habitat for fish, and can reduce flows needed for the health of rivers. As a result, conservationists have often fought proposals to upgrade older hydropower facilities or construct new water-powered energy- storage projects, undertaking lengthy regulatory disputes over environmental safeguards. The historic coalition advocating for this bill has agreed to try a different approach by working together.…”