America Needs A Reliable Decarbonized Power Grid

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, can we maintain an affordable, reliable, and decarbonized grid if we rely only on traditional renewables?

To hear our Republican colleagues talk, absolutely not. They say that nuclear and advanced fossil fuels and hydrogen all have to be in the mix. As the old saw goes, when you are in a negotiation, don't watch the other guy's lips, watch his feet.

The Republicans' proposed appropriations package includes $15 billion--that is a 20 percent cut--in the title 17 program. This is the loan program office that helps those early stage technologies get to commercialization.

This program, by the way, is currently massively oversubscribed. Of their existing $73 billion of loan authority, they have already received over $90 billion of applications of which 37 percent offer carbon management, advanced nuclear, and fossil fuel technologies included that my colleagues claim to hold dear.

These technologies are critically important to the future of our energy system. They all critically need government support to get to commercialization, and they would all be cut by the proposed Republican budget.

I want a reliable, decarbonized power grid that uses all those technologies and more. My colleagues across the aisle, on the other hand, seem to be rooting for blackouts--or worse.

I know that is true because in the words of Shakira--feet don't lie.

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