Jeff Bingaman

If we, our children, and our grandchildren are to prosper in the 21st century, we must decrease our dependence on oil, use energy in the most efficient ways possible, and decrease our carbon emissions.

The standards absolutely need to be applied nationwide to ensure interoperability and they should ultimately be harmonized with international standards.

This morning's hearing is on a topic that most of us had not even heard of a few years ago, but today is widely discussed here in Washington and around the country, and that is the smart grid.

It's important to focus on the buildings sector because it represents such a large share of primary energy use and of greenhouse gases.

In the last two energy bills we enacted significant energy efficiency requirements for Federal buildings.

Technologies that improve building efficiency are often referred to as the low-hanging fruit in meeting our energy challenges.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify. My Summit colleagues and I welcome your questions, and we appreciate your thoughtful policymaking and support on this vital matter.

We appreciate your interest in and leadership on this issue.

I commend the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for this hearing examining the DOE Loan Guarantee program.

I urge Congress and DOE to demonstrate that they share this commitment and to develop a solution as soon as possible this year.

I thank the Chairman and the Committee for this opportunity and your ongoing support of tribal energy development and the needs of Indian communities nationwide.

Establishing an entirely new institution is a heroic undertaking, however, and it is not clear that such an initiative is necessary.

This hearing is both timely and important, given the program's challenges to date and the possibility it may expand dramatically.

He indicated that the Department is going to do all it can to move ahead with a generation of green jobs.

RECEIVE TESTIMONY ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM

I look forward to the opportunity to work with this Committee to overcome the obstacles to participation.

If anything, the credit crisis has made the DOE loan guarantee program even more essential.

We are actively planning for rapid national expansion by partnering with local contractors.

In 2008, Senator Bingaman introduced legislation to create a 21st Century Energy Deployment Corporation.

I believe this is a powerful tool for meeting our energy security needs.

Thank you for your attention to H.R. 934, a bill that conveys certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which I introduced on February 10, 2009.

The CNMI is the only U.S. jurisdiction that does not have ownership of the submerged lands three miles off its shores.

I wanted to preserve the terms and conditions that were negotiated between the CNMI government and the federal government under the Proclamation while, at the same time, gaining control of the submerged lands around the Mariana Islands.

If enacted, the majority staff draft circulated by the Committee would be a landmark step in the development of the United States' renewable energy economy.