John Garamendi: “I will, and thank you very much for this discussion of what is one of the most important national security issues facing…”

“I will, and thank you very much for this discussion of what is one of the most important national security issues facing this Nation, which is our energy policy. It is a situation in which we are finding about $1 billion a day of our money is being transferred offshore to people and countries who are really not our friends at all. So the American energy policy is crucial to national security. We need to break our addiction to oil. And you are bringing out not only the necessity of breaking that addiction to oil and reducing the amount of money we are sending to very dangerous places in the world, but you are talking about creating the jobs of the future. Now, I represented California. I was the lieutenant Governor there, and throughout the State of California we are looking to the green economy as being the next great opportunity. We talk about Silicon Valley, and certainly 30 or 40 years ago the move to computers and silicone chips and all of those things did create a huge industry. Now, what is the next step? Everyone in Silicon Valley says the next step is the green economy, and the venture capital community, the scientific community, the research is all moving to the green economy. We see it in my own district. The biggest wind farms in California are in my district, in the Montezuma Hills and Solano County and the Altamont Pass. Those are the industries of the future, and as we move to those green economies, we free ourselves from oil. It is a huge issue.”