Senate Proceeding on Jan 16th, 2009 :: 1:22:40 to 1:50:00
Total video length: 4 hours 30 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:152 Duration: 0:27:20 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

1:22:20 to 1:22:44( Edit History Discussion )

Jack Reed: so we are l colleagues, ken salazar and joe biden and hillary rodham clinton. the good still has their eraordinarily valuable services. and, mr. president, at this

1:22:40 to 1:50:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Maria Cantwell

1:22:45 to 1:23:07( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: point i would yield the floor. the presiding of senator from washington. ms. cantwell: thank you, mr. president. i join my colleagues in congratulating the new member just sworn in this morning. and wish him well in his tenure here in the united states senate. and look for his help support as we move forward next

1:23:08 to 1:23:28( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: week on an important stimulus bill. mr. president, everyone knows our economy is and we know that in my home state of washington where we've seen -- housing foreclosures. we've seen jobs being cut at many companies. and, so, it is very important that as we start the discussion

1:23:29 to 1:23:49( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: on the stimulus next week, that we get our priorities right. that we inject capital and confidence and construction back into our economy. and though we must act urgently, we must, i believe, get things right the stimulus package

1:23:50 to 1:24:10( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and take time to make sure we are getting it right. getting it right means maintaing, i believe, a laser focus on job creation activities in the short term and over the next few decades and this should be the priority in putting together the stimulus package and making sure that we are providing businesses with the

1:24:11 to 1:24:33( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: certainty they need and the tax code to that's why i believe it is time put all of the good ideas on theable and i was so happy to hear our president-elect obama stating a willingness to embrace any good ideas that members had for thi package.

1:24:34 to 1:24:54( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: well, to me, mr. president, there is no better idea or opportunity than making this stimulus a bold step towards a future. clean energy will create millions of families supporting jobs that cannot be outsourced and can be a secure foundation

1:24:55 to 1:25:16( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: for a very prosperous future for the united states. investing in clean energy also reduces a lot of risks that's in the marketplace in the billions of dollars that we spend overseas on foreign energy for the fuel price volatility that we saw last year or the just

1:25:17 to 1:25:39( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: fear of supply shocks that come on a regular basis. and, obviously, there is uncertainty about global warming and the crisis that it might lead to here and across the world. mr. president, korea understand -- south korea understands this.

1:25:40 to 1:26:01( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: last tuesday the country's prime minister announced that south korea would invest 8,000 over the next five years on environmental projects to stimulate the economy and key the 8 million may not sound like a lot here given the numbers thrown around here,

1:26:02 to 1:26:23( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: but 8 million for a country whose g.d.p. is less than 1/10th of our size. that is like the united states putting up 00 billion just to match the downpayment that south korea is putting to its energy future. south korea understands that a nation who manages to win in the international race to develop clean-energy technologies and

1:26:24 to 1:26:44( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: industries will likely get to determine the energy platform and all of the other solutions that will follow. south korea knows this because it's already been a leader in lithium ion batteries made for cell phones, laptops and now they're moving that over to come up with lithium ion battery

1:26:45 to 1:27:05( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: solutions for cars. early movers will have the edge in the largest new industry of the 21st century, clean energy. and the question is, mr. president, are we going to put up the resources to make sure that the united states has that

1:27:06 to 1:27:28( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: first mover advantage. well, i would say, mr. president, the government -- the u.s. government lately has spent or put at risk an incredible amount of tax dollars or i should say future tax dolrs. in the last 16 weeks or so some people have estimated that

1:27:29 to 1:27:52( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: number as high as 0 -- -- 0 trillion. if you think about it, how do you add up 0 trillion? well, trillion in fdic assurances, .75 in federal commer billion in term, 00 billion to cover fannie mae and freddie mac, 50 billion for the

1:27:53 to 1:28:14( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: federal reserve to discount loans, 00 billion to ensure fdic deposits, 00 billion for fha mortgage relief, 50 billion for citigroup debt, 25 billion for security loan lending, lending, 00 billion for

1:28:15 to 1:28:35( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: continued debt. 12 billion for a.i.g. and a few more items that only in the billions of dollars. so while i can quibble about how some of this money was spent, i do believe that the government should take bold action and i think that there are many things that agencies should be doing to help our economy.

1:28:36 to 1:28:56( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: but my point is that in lig of those obligations on future taxpayers anthe amount of money thawe are spending, spending just 00 billion to make our nation's energy system cleaner and more diverse and more distributed is a no brainer.

1:28:57 to 1:29:18( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and stimulus such as clean energy investment, in my if we are looking for avenues to create jobs and secure our future, there is no better avenue than clean energy as a estimative. -- stimulative. a recent study from the

1:29:19 to 1:29:40( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: shows that a 00 billion investment in this area would create two million jobs. two million jobs. and that rate of job generated per dollar investment is far higher than other types of infrastructure investment. that is to say when you're looking at stimulative activity and return on investment, the

1:29:41 to 1:30:02( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: clean energy infrastructure does better than most types of other infrastructure investment. so i come to the floor today, mr. president, to discuss four ideas that i think are critically important for job creation and should be part of a stimulus package when we start to put pen to paper and actually

1:30:03 to 1:30:23( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: see some of these ideas before our committees next week. first, mr. president, many of my colleagues have talked about the incredible promise of plug-in electric vehicles. but substituting electricity for ga critically important because

1:30:24 to 1:30:44( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: plug-insannot only reduce the political and economic exposure, but they can spur a broad range of economic activity. if this stimulus bill is about figuring out ways to create jobs and economic growth in both the short term and sustainable jobs in the long term, then plug-ins are a big weurpl.

1:30:45 to 1:31:05( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: for -- are a big for consumers, it would cost the equivalent of per gallon. imagine that compared to what many people ve been paying over the last year. and moreover, our current electricity grid could fuel about 70% of our current passenger vehicles that we are

1:31:06 to 1:31:28( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: driving in america today. so, fully utilizing the grid in this way can displace about 6.5 million barrels of oil and the equivalent of about 50% of ou imported oil. that translates into hundreds of billions of dollars staying right here at home and helping our economy instead of opec's. now, how do we get

1:31:29 to 1:31:50( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: before we can take advantage of this opportunity, we need to seize the opportunity in the united states to build better batteries for cars. battery technology is the principal factor limiting the potential of plug-in electricity vehicles to displace gasoline-powered vehicles. but for a battery-powered

1:31:51 to 1:32:12( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: vehicle to perform comparable to gasoline, batteries must become lighter, more energy-dense and recharge more quickly. and while the united states contin research and development of lithium eye i don't know battery -- lithium ion technology, countries like china

1:32:13 to 1:32:34( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and japan are producing this technology. china has over 120 companies involved in the production of lithium ion and their battery industry today supports over 250,000 jobs. we have no comparable lithium ion battery facility in the

1:32:35 to 1:32:59( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: united stas. u.s. auto executives is warned that without homegrown suppliers, this country could become as dependent on asian battery-made technology as it today on middle east oil. so, mr. president, i is not the time to be timid. if we

1:33:00 to 1:33:22( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: making sure that we lead this transformation into changing the world's transportation system, other nations will take the lead in that transition. it reminds me, mr. president, of a u.s. company, intel, who led the development of processor chip.

1:33:23 to 1:33:44( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and while it is a global company today, continues to have its latest and greatest technology developed here in the united states. about two years a ago, senator hatch, president-elect obama and i sat down with automakers, battery manufacturers and utilities to figure out how to really jump-start this development in

1:33:45 to 1:34:06( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: domestic production of plug-in electric vehicles. and the result was a multiered tax incentive strategy designed to accelerate the domestic development, manufacturing, and to give a full range of -- to help advance a full range plug-in vehicles. the good news is our proposal

1:34:07 to 1:34:29( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: received a 93-2 vote in the senate to provide consumers tax credits for the first 250,000 people who buy these cars. and i do believe that that vital first step to bringing this game-changing technology to the marketplace. but we also have to make sure that the u.s. maintains a global

1:34:30 to 1:34:52( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: market leadership in plug-in manufacturing and to do that, we need to make sure that we are incentivizing and creating a domestic manufacturing base for plug-in vehicles. that's why yesterday senator hatch and i introduced legislation to continue to promote

1:34:53 to 1:35:14( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and our 100% expensing provision would allow private companies to build or retool factories that would put american-made plug-ins in show rooms across the united states. i'd like to thank senators kerry and alexander, senator stabenow and bill original cosponsors of this legislation.

1:35:15 to 1:35:37( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: manufacturing these game-changing technologies here in the united states will create jobs now, and it will sustain jobs for the long term. and i'm not just talking about in michigan, but i am talking about all over the country. and it's an investment we need now. if what i've said so far doesn't sway my colleagues, i hope that

1:35:38 to 1:36:00( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: they will consider that it won't be the g.m. volt to be the first plug-in in our marketplace. it won't even be a modified toyota prius. last month china's b.y.d. auto brought the first production lithium ion plug-in electric car to the market. so i hope my colleagues will

1:36:01 to 1:36:21( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: renew their interest in this idea and review this bill and support, including these manufacturing credits in a stimulus package. second, we have a tremendous opportunity in stimulus by infusing more intelligence into america's electricity grid.

1:36:22 to 1:36:42( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: the smart grid will help ensure that those plug-ins become a source of stabilizing an efficient energy source rather than a burden on the grid. for example, with smart metering and control devices, you can allow drivers to fill up their vehicles automatically, if you will, in your garage overnight

1:36:43 to 1:37:04( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: at the electricity load when prices are lowest. that is by saying building a smart grid, we can really put into place a system that allows us to fill up our cars at the cheapest price. and eventually the smart plug-ins could also become their own virtual mini power plant.

1:37:05 to 1:37:25( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: if you think about it, now your car has stored up overnight, allowing with many other cars across the country to store battery power. and you can put that back on to the electricity grid or for your own use when it's convenient for you to do so. but right now, mr. president, our electricity grid is outdated.

1:37:26 to 1:37:46( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and we need to work quickly to put the incentives in place to upgrade to what is a very bright and promising future. even though our electricity grid is vital to our economy and our way of life, it has been called one of the most complicated machines on earth. and it is outdated and one of

1:37:47 to 1:38:07( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: the biggest roadblocks to fully incorporating all the renewable energy and energy efficiency that the 21 st s-century -- that the 21st century commerce can deliver. smart grid technology that can make our grid more efficient and reliable is an important part of that.

1:38:08 to 1:38:28( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: and tpha -- a recent department of energy report found the smart grid can improve efficiency of our current power system by as much as 30%. infusing intelligenc grid enables realtime electricity pricing. it allows efficiency and makes distributive generion work, and it makes the grid more resilient, and it powers

1:38:29 to 1:38:49( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: homeowners and businesses to take advantage of all those savings. now, in our state, the pacific northwest lab did a study on this and found that consumers could save 10% on their current electricity bills basically by understanding how power was

1:38:50 to 1:39:11( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: being used in their home and then making decisions that were convenient for them to make. the study fou no technical hurdles standing in the way of on a wide scale because the technologies that are needed are here. but that we need to build about

1:39:12 to 1:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: 0 billion of new generation and transmission over a 20-year period to take advantage of this. i can't thinkf another source of energy that could quickly come to the market that provide us 10% more fuel. but efficiency and smart grids can do for us.

1:39:37 to 1:39:57( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: provide us 10% more fuel. p how do we get there? because many of these smart grid technologies are ready to go, and in fact a recent report found that if the federal government would invest 6 billion over the next two years, if we would invest 6 billion

1:39:58 to 1:40:18( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: over the next two years, we would drive a 4 billion investment in related projects by the private sector resulting in 2,000 direct jobs across a variety of categories. so, the opportunity for

1:40:19 to 1:40:39( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: stimulative activity i believe should be one of the top priorities of our stimulus package. 150 of those jobs could be created by the end of this kwraoefrplt mr. president, as we -- year. mr. president, it is important that we prioritiz stimulus package those types of jobs that will be created in

1:40:40 to 1:41:02( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: very near future. i know out of that 150,000 jobs, 140,000 of those jobs will become permanent positions smart-grid development. so i, mr. president, was very happy in 2007 to write a section of the energy bill

1:41:03 to 1:41:24( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: getting into play smart-grid language and know and realize want to appropriate resources to that section of the bill. but i hope that we can, in this package, realize that the more we incent the development of smart-grid technology and smart meters, the faster we are going

1:41:25 to 1:41:46( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: to reach that deployment and savings of 10% to consumers and help in the creation of that 280,000 jobs. i also believe that as we look at the grid, we need to build out our transmission lines. and while there is language, i think, many of my colleagues

1:41:47 to 1:42:08( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: support having the western power marketing association, having resources to expand the grid, i also support giving the bonneville power administration billion which they pay back to the treasury with interest to allow 4,700 megawatts of renewable energy to come on-line in the pacific northwest.

1:42:09 to 1:42:29( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: states like washington, oregon, idaho and montana. this over the next two years will create 50,000 jobs. and so we know immediately that more jobs and investing in the grid can be created by making the right decisions here in washington. the third area, mr. president,

1:42:30 to 1:42:51( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: besides plug-ins, besides a smart grid, that i think can help us and give us an opportunity in stimulating our economy is to make sure that we are creating a manufacturing credit for renewable energy. that is to say to establish a

1:42:52 to 1:43:13( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: 30% investment tax credit for manufacturing, allowing components of the clean-energy economy, like wind turbines and solar panels and grid technology, to qualify for such manufacturing credit. that will help us create jobs here at home. and it will help us with new

1:43:14 to 1:43:34( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: industries that can support entire communities and can help transform our energy system. the solar industry is a good case study of why we need this incentive. first, solar is a leading american photovoltaic modular maker.

1:43:35 to 1:43:56( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: they built their first pilot plant in 2005 in ohio. but when they needed to scale up production, generous manufacturing incentives and market demand drove them to germany and malaysia, leading them away from the united states. if we can get a clean-energy manufacturing incentive into the

1:43:57 to 1:44:18( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: stimulus bill, it will launch a wave of new clean-energy manufacturing facilities her the united states instead. and just the effect of this on the solar industry alone has been estimated to jobs.

1:44:19 to 1:44:41( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: so, ensuring this kind of a manufacturing credit is critical. now, i'm aware that the investment tax credit, production tax credits that we put as part of the 2007 energy bill have met with cri challenges because getting the renewable production investment tax credits to work again has been challenging given what's

1:44:42 to 1:45:03( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: happened to the capital markets. vital investments in american infrastructure, though, mr. president, shouldn't have to wait for wall street to get their house in order. there's something wrong when these companies that are key to our energy independence are of the financial meltdown that has occurred. and this situation is not only

1:45:04 to 1:45:24( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: hurting our opportunities for clean energy, but it's hurting our opportunities for job creation. florida power and light, the largest owner of wind power projects in the u.s., announced a 25% production in capital expenditur

1:45:25 to 1:45:46( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: l.m.n. glass fiber is laying off 150 workers in arkansas and optisolar, a maker of cutting-edge thin-filmed solar cells announced last week that they had laid off 300 people, almost half of its employees and they will delay construction of what was to be the largest

1:45:47 to 1:46:07( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: p.v.c. manufacturing facility in northern america. mr. president, we can do better by in the credit market freeze by going back to the tax code on the i.t.c. and p.t.c. and providing more flexibility. i know that there are many people who are thinking about this now and how to put more flexibility into the tax code

1:46:08 to 1:46:29( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: for the businesses. but i want my colleagues to understand most of these proposals that i hope will make it to the stimulus bill have little or no cost to the u.s. treasury. and, so, i think that we have an opportunity to help fix what has really been created by the

1:46:30 to 1:46:50( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: financial markets on an incentive package that we finally got approved last december. we also, as part of president, i believe, should use the clean energy renewable bond program that public utilities use to give them further tax

1:46:51 to 1:47:11( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: incentives so they can make similar investments niece private areas of renewable energy. i also believe, mr. president, thathe last area that we should focus on is making sure that there is tax credit parity

1:47:12 to 1:47:33( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: in our energy laws. one of the areas that have been an ongoing concern to many of colleagues on both sides of the aisle is the fact that many promising renewable technology receive half of the tax credit of mainstream like wind. this has inhibited a number of

1:47:34 to 1:47:54( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: projects in my state, especially in biomass, which would be a great opportunity to correct the longstanding grievance and provide a lot more predictability for other energies by giving everybody the same credit, about two cents a kilowatt hour. that way we would bring all technology on to a level playing

1:47:55 to 1:48:16( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: field and sending the message about the kind of treatment that those energy resource wos get from the american tax -- would get from the american tax code and their predibility ability in -- predictability in the future. i believe this what i have just outlined is very positiv energy stimulus.

1:48:17 to 1:48:37( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: i think for me and many of my colleagues clean energy has really become post partisan. that is to say that everyone appreciates it is a game-changing technology and that it can help us environmentally with our national security and the economic changes that are facing our nation. the question is: where is the

1:48:38 to 1:48:58( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: will? where is theill to make sure that this language gets into the stimulus package that we will be voting on in the next few weeks. i plan to work with the president-elect and many of my colleagues the senate many of these

1:48:59 to 1:49:20( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: provisions do become reality. we know that as we face this financial crisis we need to make the right decisions to put the few pillars in place that will be the strength that we can really lean on as our country faces these difficult times. i can think of nothing more

1:49:21 to 1:49:41( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: simple and game changing than a 00 billion investment in clean energy to get us on the right track, to make us world leaders, and to make us the leaders in this 21st century technology that can produce jobs long into the future. i thank the president and i

1:49:42 to 1:50:01( Edit History Discussion )

Maria Cantwell: yield the the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. snool