Secretary Salazar has important decisions to make.

Decisions that may prove essential to our Nation's energy security and economic well being.

Senator Bingaman, your leadership here is surely welcomed and we thank you for that.

Investment in the transmission grid will stimulate economic development, reduce electricity costs for consumers, and improve grid reliability.

This legislation will put Americans back to work while laying the groundwork for a clean energy economy.

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.

I look forward to working with others in the Administration, this Committee, and the Congress to meet the President's goal of legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy…

I hope we can benefit from learning from what others, including Japan are doing in this regard.

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.

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

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

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