David Minge: “I have a prepared statement, but I would like to depart from that prepared statement to join in the debate that we have…”

“I have a prepared statement, but I would like to depart from that prepared statement to join in the debate that we have had this evening here on the floor about this very important amendment, and there are three points that I would like to make. First, it is interesting to note that this amendment is juxtaposed with an amendment that was previously considered regarding nuclear energy. Now, many of us are interested, if not fascinated, with nuclear energy. In fact we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this country in this technology. But it is also very clear to us that this country is no longer interested in developing nuclear plants. We cannot dispose of the fuel that has been generated, and as a consequence, we have an industry that is almost a white elephant domestically. Yet we continue to invest in this industry. By comparison, we have tremendous interest in renewable energy, biomass production. It is an emerging industry, and we ought to invest in this new technology.”