Electricity Security and Affordability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member for yielding to me, and I want to talk about this bill, H.R. 3826. Basically from where I can see, H.R. 3826 will essentially prevent the EPA from limiting coal-fired power plant emissions, including health-endangering pollution as well as carbon. We are all interested in health, but I want to talk about carbon pollution.

Climate change is one of the most important national issues we face right now, and the evidence for climate change is overwhelming, whether it is superstorms that are occurring more regularly, whether it is a record-changing drought, whether it is migration patterns of biological systems, melting of the polar icecaps and the related issue, ocean acidification, all of these current phenomenon are very dangerous and very threatening. The leading scientists of this Nation and around the world agree that this is a threat, that it is a problem. In fact, about 97 percent of planet scientists believe this is a problem, and the predictions and the models for the climate sciences are horrifying enough. Unfortunately, actual measurements and actual predictions and happenings are worse than the predictions, than the actual models are predicting, so we are facing a very dangerous situation.

I ask my colleagues, Why are you willing to take this risk? Climate change is a very big problem. It is a very big risk. Ninety-seven percent of the scientists agree it is a risk, and yet we are going to say it is not really a risk, we can worry about that later. No, we have to worry about it right now, today.

The good news out there is that carbon-capture sequestration technology is coming along pretty well. What this bill would do, unfortunately, is prevent carbon-sequestration technology from being adopted in power plants. I submit that allowing carbon sequestration technology to be developed is in the interest of the coal industry. If the technology is developed and climate change keeps happening, which it is, then the public is going to demand that we incorporate climate change, carbon sequestration technology, and if it is not there, then coal plants are going to be shut down.

So now, when we have the opportunity when technology is being developed, there is money being spent by the Federal Government and by private industry to develop carbon-capture sequestration, let's go ahead and take advantage of that, implement it in our power plants on a limited basis now so when the need is there, it will be available. I don't understand why that is being ignored.

H.R. 3826 ignores that and other possibilities. It prohibits us from using existing carbon capture projects in the United States as a technical basis for implementing that technology in coal-fired power plants. We must take advantage of this technology in the United States and abroad. We shouldn't prevent the development of this technology. CS technology is improving. It is becoming more cost effective, and it is becoming more effective technologically. It is in the best interests of the long-term coal industry, and I strongly urge opposition to this bill.

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