WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), at an Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing titled “Building a 100 Percent Clean Economy: Solutions for the U.S. Power Sector,” spoke about the importance of clean, renewable, reliable, and affordable hydropower to Eastern Washington and our country. Watch her remarks here:  

As Cathy said, “Reducing carbon emissions is a shared goal, however, I believe we must be realistic and we must be honest about the challenges that we face…We need an all-of-the-above strategy that provides consumer choice, ensures affordability, and maintains grid reliability and capacity. 

“For some states, nuclear is the best option. For others, it’s wind, or solar, or natural gas. For others, it’s hydropower. I’m excited about the technological innovation and American ingenuity that enables us to develop a variety of new, cutting-edge ways of clean energy production. 

“Eastern Washington is a leader in clean energy solutions. Hydropower built the Pacific Northwest. It built our economy and it continues to provide clean, renewable, reliable electricity… It accounts for 70 percent of the energy in Washington State, and as we all know, it is the largest source of renewable energy in the country. We could double our hydropower production in America without building a single new dam—simply by investing in technology. 

“The fact though is from 2012 to 2015, our carbon emissions spiked 6.1% due, in part, to increasing fossil fuel-generated electricity. So, at a time when we have this shared goal, we should be embracing what makes sense in each region of the country, and for us, it’s hydropower. We shouldn’t be putting more costs and more mandates on hydropower. We should be actually moving forward with licensing reform here at the federal level.”  

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