Katie Porter: “I am honored to be here today to introduce my amendment to the Climate Action Now Act, which highlights the critical…”

“I am honored to be here today to introduce my amendment to the Climate Action Now Act, which highlights the critical role of technology in the fight against climate change. The United States must continue to invest in research and development of clean energy technology in order to meet our nationally determined contributions under the Paris climate accord. We need American leadership in the fight against climate change. The U.S. has always led in the field of research and innovation. Our laboratories and research universities are among the best in the world, and their ability to innovate to combat the world's challenges are without parallel. Climate change is an urgent challenge we must address, and America's scientists and technologists have always risen to this challenge. Yet, instead of fighting climate change, this administration proposed slashing the budget for climate research and renewable energy programs. Let's take a look at the President's proposed 2020 budget for the Department of Energy. President Trump would slash the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by more than 85 percent. This is the home at the Department of Energy for supporting every kind of renewable technology that we have developed and implemented. President Trump proposed completely zeroing out the ARPA-E budget. ARPA-E was created to incentivize researchers to develop promising research into game-changing technologies that can meet our future research needs.…”