Energizing Houston: Sustainability, Technological Innovation, and Growth in the Energy Capital of the World

Opening Statement By Chairman Nick Lampson

This hearing of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee will now come to order. 

Good morning.  It is with great pleasure that I welcome my fellow Committee Members, my Congressional colleagues from the Houston area, and our distinguished panel of experts to Rice University for what will undoubtedly be a lively and engaging conversation about the grand challenges we face in energy and the exciting research being explored to meet these challenges. 

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Rice University President Leebron, and to the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy for offering this impressive facility to the Committee.  

So, why, you might ask, is the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology holding a hearing in Houston, Texas? 

While I may be a little biased, I can not imagine a better place to have an open and honest discussion about energy than in the “Energy Capital of the World”, Houston.  But that is not the only reason.

My colleagues and I have ample opportunities in Washington to hear from a myriad of experts, lobbyists, and interest groups.  But, each of us realize the best way to gauge the importance of an issue, and the impacts of our policies, is to step away from D.C. and talk to folks on the frontlines – consumers, government and industry leaders, researchers, and the general public.  This is our chance to take our show on the road and hear from the local leaders and experts who just happen to be international authorities in their fields, and then record these important perspectives in the Congressional Record for the benefit of the country as we continue what will be an endless effort to craft good energy policies. 

Texas, and more specifically Houston, has long been associated with the oil and gas industry.  This industry, which directly and indirectly employs 1.3 million Texans, or 10.5% of the workforce, provides the backbone of our economy and helps make our quality of life the envy of the world. 

Oil and gas will absolutely continue to play this vital role for the foreseeable future.  We may someday have better alternatives or, as one witness will testify to today, we may find that our global supplies cannot meet our growing demand.  Until then we should not be at all bashful in aggressively pursuing the cutting-edge technologies that will unlock previously unrecoverable hydrocarbon reserves.  At the same time we must embrace new technologies that can make our use of fossil fuels cleaner and more efficient.

But, as we all must acknowledge, it is a new world with a new range of environmental, economic and energy related challenges that threaten our very way of life.  Whether you are most concerned with skyrocketing energy costs, $100 oil, global climate change, energy security, job security, air quality, or competition from emerging nations, the one thing we can all agree on is that the status quo is simply not sustainable, and that we must adapt to this constantly shifting energy landscape.  The world will not stand still for us.  Our future will be determined by our ability to implement sound but aggressive policies accompanied by robust government and private investment in developing the entire range of advanced energy technologies, and then deploying them in the marketplace. 

The city leaders in Houston are well aware of the difficulties of balancing often competing priorities in energy, economy, and sustainability.  Our local economy, more than any in the country, is dependent on the wellbeing of the thousands of energy-related firms located here.  But the demands we face as a community are really not unique.  Just like any healthy company will adapt to changing market needs and regulatory pressures, so too must the region look at this new energy paradigm and find opportunity in these changes, and strength in our unparalleled capacity for innovation. 

Houston has a good foundation to work from.  Texas happens to have some of the country’s most progressive requirements for renewable electricity generation, allowing us to install more wind energy than all the other states combined.  In fact, the American Wind Energy Association predicts that two-thirds of the growth in U.S. wind energy will happen in Texas.  There is also no shortage of sunlight in Texas to take advantage of solar energy as it becomes cost-competitive.  

Texas is not only leading the country in production and growth of wind energy, but our production of biofuels and other bio-based products, most especially bio-diesel, will solidify our leadership role in diversifying the nation’s supplies of cleaner energy and greener raw materials. 

In fact, after this hearing some of us will get on a bus and travel to Oak Ridge North, where we will see first-hand the nation’s first electric generation plant to run entirely on biodiesel.  It may be one plant, and one technology, but it represents a critical step in revolutionizing how we think about, use, and produce energy in the U.S. 

We look forward to the testimony of our witnesses and with that, I will turn it over to the Ranking Member of the Science and Technology Committee, Mr. Ralph Hall.

Witnesses

Panel 1

2 - Hon. Bill White
Mayor City of Houston City of Houston
Download the Witness Testimony

1 - Mr. John Hofmeister
President Shell Oil Company Shell Oil Company
Download the Witness Testimony

3 - Mr. Thomas Standish
President, Regulated Operations CenterPoint Energy CenterPoint Energy
Download the Witness Testimony

Panel 2

4 - Mr. Michael Ming
President Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America
Download the Witness Testimony

3 - Dr. Robert Hirsch
Senior Energy Advisor Management Information Services Inc. Management Information Services Inc.
Download the Witness Testimony

1 - Dr. Walter Chapman
Director, Energy and Environment Systems Institute Rice University Rice University
Download the Witness Testimony

2 - Dr. Robert Harriss
President & Chief Executive Officer Houston Advanced Research Center Houston Advanced Research Center
Download the Witness Testimony