VIDEO: Congressman Horsford Delivers Floor Speech Urging Congress Pass the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act | Congressman Steven Horsford
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VIDEO: Congressman Horsford Delivers Floor Speech Urging Congress Pass the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act

September 24, 2020

Washington, D.C. -- During Wednesday's debate on the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) took to the House Floor to urge Congress to pass the legislation, which fights environmental injustice threatening communities of color and invests in a clean economy future.

The Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, H.R. 4447, makes long-overdue reforms to U.S. energy policy and authorizes major investments in the transition to a low-carbon future. This bill would allocate significant funding to clean energy, distributed energy resources, energy storage systems, and microgrids. With a wide range of solar and geothermal energy sources in Nevada, this bill would better position the state as a national leader in energy production and bolster the clean energy workforce.

The bill also works to improve the efficiency of our homes and businesses, electrify our transportation sector, modernize and enhance the resiliency of the electric grid, prioritize the needs of environmental justice communities, and reduce carbon pollution from industrial and traditional sources.

The summary of the bill can be found here and the full text can found here.

Remarks As Prepared For Delivery:

For too long, communities of color, indigenous communities, and economically oppressed communities have borne a disproportionate burden from toxic pollution and environmental degradation.

Communities experiencing environmental injustice have been subjected to systemic racial, social, and economic and injustices and face a disproportionate burden of adverse human health and environmental effects, a high risk of intentional, unconscious, and structural discrimination, and disproportional energy burdens.

While the environmental justice provisions are a welcomed step towards equity and justice for marginalized communities, this legislation will also push all communities forward together – whether through the $20 billion clean energy and sustainability accelerator to finance and mobilize private investment in low-carbon technologies and projects; over $4 billion for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to advance cutting-edge renewable energy technologies, including solar, wind, geothermal, and water power; or grants to local communities to improve energy efficiency, including for workforce training funding and rebates for home retrofits.

This legislation will also be important for Nevada's clean transportation initiatives. It authorizes over $36 billion for transportation electrification, including through grants and rebates to deploy electric vehicles and related charging infrastructure. It also authorizes $650 million to deploy low- and zero-emissions school buses, $375 million for the Clean Cities Coalition Program, and $2.5 billion for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act.

This important legislation is a down payment on even greater energy progress that will put us on the path to a clean economy future.

I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this legislation.

A video of the Congressman's remarks can be watched and downloaded here.