On the recordJuly 9, 2014
I just wanted to align my remarks with yours, and that is, though I would oppose the gentleman's amendment at this point, the potential of hydropower is enormous, both low-power hydro--and the more robust parts of the country, I am sure Idaho has big falls and Pennsylvania, in many places, but the low-power hydro that is more characteristic of the Great Lakes region, for example, offers enormous potential, and there are new inventions to be had in capturing the power of water, even as it moves in streams that flow just at grade. Mr. Chairman, we need to allow this conversation to influence the Department of Energy, so that there is more attention given to hydro and to the development of new technologies, water dropping--being elevated and then being dropped in different parts of the country--as well as existing watersheds being used more effectively. We need a lot more work. I would say to the gentleman that I bet we could get more than 15 percent, if we really put our minds to it, so I wanted to offer general support of the idea. Even though we can't support your amendment today, let's hope in the future we can find a way to do a better job with hydropower. I thank the chairman for yielding.
