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Alaskan Congressman Don Young introduced the Renewable and Hydroelectric Energy for Alaska’s Tomorrow Act (Renewable HEAT Act) this afternoon.  This legislation will authorize the Department of Energy to make grants to carry out renewable energy and hydro-electric projects.    

Rep. Young’s extension of remarks:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Renewable and Hydro-electric Energy for Alaska’s Tomorrow Act (the Renewable HEAT Act).  The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the Department of Energy to provide grants for carrying out renewable energy and hydroelectric projects. 

“Similar, yet more restrictive, language was included in the Senate passed energy bill, H.R. 6.  The bill, written in secret behind closed doors by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, is hardly an energy bill.  More accurately described as the “Energy Suicide Act,” this bill will do nothing to reduce our dependence on hostile foreign nations, nor will it bring relief to Americans suffering from rising energy costs.  In fact, it will do the opposite.  The only positive aspect of this bill is the provision providing grants for renewable energy, and more importantly, Alaska small hydroelectric projects.

“Mr. Speaker, I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that tries to fool the American people into thinking we are going to be able to lower their energy prices.  How can we lower costs and become energy independent if there is no production?  Essentially, it is economic terrorism.  And who is dictating the terms of this bill?  The environmental groups funded by millionaires who don’t lose any sleep wondering how they are going to heat their homes, as temperatures drop.  We are approaching a state of crisis, where oil is trading for $90 a barrel. 

“As I stated earlier, the only real energy provided for in the deceptive H.R. 6 is for hydroelectric power in Alaska.  My colleagues seem to think that water is the only resource needed to keep a world power running.  Since I cannot vote for this bill in its entirety, I have introduced this legislation to provide grant money for hydropower to my State of Alaska.  Hydroelectric power is the nation’s largest renewable energy source and account for seven percent of America’s electricity supply.  Even though Alaska is one-sixth the size of the entire nation, it is home to about 40% of the country’s free-flowing fresh water. 

“Rural Alaskan communities have the highest utility rates in America, paying up to six times the national average, while also suffering the lowest per capita incomes.  Currently, heating oil costs between $3-5 a gallon.  The diesel-fired electricity so many Alaskan communities rely upon is not only expensive, it’s dirty.  The generators are old, unreliable, and release pollutants into the air, and in order to conserve money, are usually turned off at night.  The grants this bill provides will assist these areas in the transition to clean, more affordable energy by giving them the funding to harvest the natural flow of water that surrounds them.

“It has become clear to me that the United States Congress has no intention of taking care of the American people by making sure they can heat their homes and put food on their plates.  Therefore, I must make sure my Alaskans are taken care of, while they endure some of the coldest temperatures in the country.”      

This legislation does not yet have a bill number.

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