Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from New Jersey and the Senator from New Mexico for such an energetic discussion at this earlier or late hour, depending on how you define it. It is nearing bedtime in my home State, but for the rest of us across the Nation, many of us are asleep. But we are up for climate. The hashtag is up4climate, and we encourage you to jump on that hashtag. I thank both of the Senators for participating in that discussion. I spent a fair amount of time on the Senate floor today talking about how serious, how dire, and how real climate change is. But I think it is important--and consistent with what Senator Kaine from Virginia and Senators Booker and Heinrich have talked about--to talk about the opportunity for American leadership in economic and technological innovation. There are such incredible opportunities for our country in innovation that it is really worth drilling down and talking about the details. First, let's talk about battery storage. One of the challenges in the State of Hawaii is this. We have abundant wind and solar energy. We are the most isolated populated place on the planet. We still burn 85 percent of our energy as low-sulfur fuel oil. In other words, we import oil and burn it for electricity, which at this point in time is really unheard of and overly expensive. Three to four times the national average is what we pay for our electricity.…”