Merkley: House Vote on Clean Energy Jobs Bill Paves the Way for Senate Action


Washington, DC
– Today, the U.S. House of Representatives
passed groundbreaking legislation to rebuild the economy around clean energy
and to directly address the looming threat of global warming.  Oregon’s
Senator Jeff Merkley, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee, issued the following statement on the vote:

“Our dependence on fossil fuels has drained wealth from our
families, imperiled our security, threatened our environment and hampered our
ability to deal with economic crises.  We must finally begin the process
of moving to a clean energy economy which will make us self-sufficient, create
jobs here at home and reduce our reliance on oil from the Mid-east. 

 

“The House of Representatives is sending a clear signal that
our nation is serious about unleashing the power of American innovation with a
clean energy revolution.  Oregon, with our ample supplies of wave, wind,
solar and geothermal energy, and our business leaders paving the way in these
and other clean energy technologies, will be a national leader in this
effort. 

 

“Now it is time for the Senate to act.  As we begin
developing the Senate version of this legislation in the Environment and Public
Works committee, I’ll be looking to how we can most effectively create jobs and
save families and businesses money as we reduce our global warming pollution
and make our air and water cleaner.”

 

 

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