House Approves Natural Resources Legislation Containing S&T Energy Bills
(Washington, DC) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, S.2739, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. S.2739 contains two bills (H.R.1126 and H.R.85) previously approved by the House Science and Technology Committee and the full House of Representatives.
"These two bills mark the 19th and 20th Science and Technology Committee bills that will be enacted into law during 110th Congress," said Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN). "I’m proud that my colleagues have advanced these bipartisan, consensus bills that put good ideas into practice for our constituents and our country."
H.R.1126, reauthorizing the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988, was introduced by Vice-Chairman Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) in February 2007. The bill reaffirms Congressional support for the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act and authorizes $60 million through 2012 for R&D to enhance the energy efficiency of processes to manufacture metals, particularly steel and aluminum. The bill also slightly modifies the program’s priorities and reinstates the program's annual report requirement.
"Because the steel, aluminum, and copper industries are important for our economy and critical to national security, I introduced H.R. 1126 which will increase the energy efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of these industries," said Lipinski. "I am pleased that this bill has now passed the House and Senate and will soon be signed into law as part of the consolidated Natural Resources bill. This is a major win for American workers, American metal industries, and the environment."
The bill was reported by the Committee on March 8, 2007 and previously passed the House by a voice vote on March 12, 2008.
H.R.85, the Energy Technology Transfer Act, introduced by Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL), along with Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC), establishes Advanced Energy Technology Transfer Centers to encourage demonstration and commercial application of energy efficient building methods and technologies and improve the flow of state-of-the-art information on energy use and conservation in buildings to the private sector.
According to the Department of Energy (DOE), buildings consume more energy than any other sector of the economy, including transportation, and innovations in energy-efficient building technologies, materials, techniques and systems combined with advances in photovoltaic and other distributed clean energy technologies have the potential to dramatically transform the pattern of energy consumption associated with buildings. HR 85 will help ensure that the federal government provides education on energy efficiency and clean energy technologies developed by DOE and the National Laboratories as well as help transfer these technologies to energy end-users in the marketplace.
"I am pleased to have worked with Rep. Biggert to make this technology transfer program at the Department of Energy even more effective," said Miller. "The purpose of this program is to encourage the real world use of energy efficiency technologies that have already been developed, but have been sitting unused on the shelf. Encouraging the use of these technologies offers the promise of immediate help with our problems, with our energy needs, our energy costs, and our dependence on foreign oil."
S.2739 passed the House by a vote of 291-117 and will be sent to the President for his signature.
More information on the Committee’s legislation and activities can be found on our website at www.house.gov/science.
###
110.249
Related Subcommittees
Next Article Previous Article