Alternative Energy

Floor Speech

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY -- (House of Representatives - March 17, 2009)

Mr. POLIS. I'd like to build on some of my colleague from Washington's arguments about the opportunity for growth in the green economy.

My district and, in particular, Boulder, Colorado, has been a center of growth in the green jobs industry.

In fact, when President Obama signed the Recovery Act a few weeks ago, he did so in Denver, and invited a company from my district, Namaste Solar, a company that had three people 3 years ago, now is up to 45 people, install solar home panels.

This has been--and, like many districts in the country, of course my district has been hit by this recession. We have seen unemployment rise. One of the biggest sectors we have seen job growth in is these green economy jobs--solar energy, the research and development.

It's not only areas that have strong solar and wind geophysical characteristics. We are also talking about energy conservation. There are several model homes in my district that are net energy positive. Put energy back on the grid. They get there, yes, with solar panels, but also by reducing their energy consumption, looking at insulation, a smart grid, and Boulder is the pilot for allowing energy consumption when there is more power on the grid and turning many homes into net energy producers during part of the day, as well, and having an intelligence aspect to appliances so they can draw from the grid when we have extra capacity.

Researching, developing and, yes, manufacturing these products are going to be a major sector for economic growth across our country in the future. When we talk about where America can still be competitive and will be competitive in manufacturing, it's in these high-tech items.

We do have a hard time, and we have been losing jobs to other countries in some of the manufacturing jobs that gave our middle class strength in the 20th century. But I am optimistic that we can grow in some of these short order, smart appliances, which traditionally have been and will continue to be developed and brought to market right here in this country, and be a critical part of this new economy.

I have had the chance to visit with a number of companies in our district. Our district is really a hot bed of entrepreneurial activity. And there are others in other parts of the country.

The more that public policy can embrace this, the more that we can serve the dual goal of fostering economic development as well as preserving our natural heritage, reducing our carbon emissions and reliance on foreign oil, and all the issues which a number of my colleagues have so ably discussed that are critical reasons to invest in the green economy boom.

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