I'm very supportive of the Federal side of LWCF, but as a former Governor, I can't overstate how important the stateside grant program is for recreation, habitat and open spaces.

I just want to be real careful that any Federal action we take does not discourage, that we actually should be encouraging it.

I think you should do, and whether it should be hazardous waste, which I think it should not be.

It will take strong national emission controls on coal plants for us to be able to meet your upcoming stricter local standards.

It makes no sense for us to spend $40 million buying the Cherokee National Forest and then sticking a bunch of 50-story wind turbines on top of it.

And the purpose of our legislation is to fix that problem.

The point I am leading to is that we often talk with renewable energy about 1,000 megawatts of electricity for wind and solar when only a one-third of that is actually produced by comparison with a coal plant or a gas plant or a nuclear…

I want to make sure we know what we are doing.

You know, if you are buying a product and it is labeled 'hazardous waste,' all of a sudden, your lawyers come in and say, wait a minute.

I think your decisions have helped bring that to a successful conclusion.

Would it not be wiser to establish zones or areas and say these are appropriate places, rather than just let entrepreneurs who might be attracted by a 3 cent per kilowatt hour Federal subsidy to come in and build a big turbine and then…

The problem with renewable energy for this country is the one of scale.

I support efforts in the Congress to make that the responsibility of Congress to deal with rather than the EPA

I would simply like to encourage you to, wherever appropriate, work in partnership with universities in States like the University of Tennessee or the State of Tennessee or other States and universities to maximize our bucks on this.

When that regulation comes down, we will know whether you are going to regulate it, which I think you should do, and whether it should be hazardous waste, which I think it should not be.

The State comes up pretty short.

I want to make sure that in the review of this issue that you have the maximum amount of peer review and good science so that everyone has confidence in the conclusion.

But it is possible today... to get a bunch of Federal subsidies and build a big wind park right outside the Cherokee National Forest.

I continue to be concerned because the Great Smoky Mountains... gets about one-half the funding of similar parks.

EPA will soon issue final regulations to tighten local ambient ozone standards nationwide.

We have spent more than a century and billions of dollars of public and private money protecting these landscapes and these areas.

The administration's proposal to cut State regulatory grants... is completely unrealistic.

I am working hard for stronger national emission control standards, but if you come in with unrealistic local standards, the effect will be to send Volkswagen offshore with its suppliers, and that will put jobs where we do not want them.

The purpose of our legislation is to fix that problem.

We urge the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies to appropriate adequate funding for the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to manage non-native insects and plant diseases that threaten America's forests.