George Voinovich: “I rise to support the Nickles-Breaux amendment on renewable portfolio standards. Last month, the Senate debated the…”

“I rise to support the Nickles-Breaux amendment on renewable portfolio standards. Last month, the Senate debated the renewable portfolio standard included in the legislation before us today. I want to make it clear that I applaud the efforts of my colleagues to encourage the use of renewable electricity generation. I agree that renewable energy is an important part of the future and should be developed. I also strongly believe renewable sources are vital as this country seeks to diversify energy supplies and decrease our dependence on foreign sources to meet our energy needs. As my colleagues know, the Bingaman amendment that was accepted last month stipulates that we must develop a mandatory minimum standard for renewable energy of 10 percent by the year 2019. At the time, I opposed the requirement because I believed it mandated an unrealistic level of renewable usage in a short period of time, at the virtual expense of other sources of electricity generation. I think one point that seems to get lost over the use of renewables in America is that, right now, very little of our power in this Nation is generated by renewables. As a matter of fact, it is 1.6 of 1 percent. My colleagues should understand when we are talking renewables in this bill, we are talking solar, we are talking wind, we are talking geothermal and we are talking biomass; that is it.”