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The Constitution
of the United
States provides
that Congress
has the power to
“promote the
progress of
science and the
useful arts.” As
a member of
Congress, I have
taken up that
charge by
promoting a
science-based
solution to a
serious issue.
For more than a
century
America’s
industry,
transportation
sector and
households have
been heavily
reliant on oil.
The reality is
that this
reliance is
unsustainable
and inadvisable.
Petroleum is a
finite resource.
No matter how
much we explore
and discover, we
will one day run
out, and the
immediate,
booming
worldwide demand
is burning up
resources and
driving up
prices.
Fossil fuels
emit dangerous
carbon gases
like carbon
monoxide as they
burn, polluting
our air. And the
increasing
reliance on
foreign oil
subjects us to
the whims of
unstable
geopolitical
forces and
unfriendly
governments like
Iran and
Venezuela.
For these
reasons, I have
become an
advocate of
developing
hydrogen as the
primary fuel of
our
transportation-based
economy.
I imagine a
future where the
“Hydrogen
Economy” sits at
the center of a
multi-pronged
strategy to
achieve American
energy
independence.
Hydrogen holds
the promise of a
home-grown
energy source
that will fuel
our nation’s
energy needs
without
compromising our
environment.
Hydrogen power
is clean,
emitting only
water vapor. And
hydrogen can be
derived from
renewable and
non-petroleum
sources.
A short time
after I was
elected to
Congress, I
joined three of
my colleagues —
Rep. Bob Inglis
(SC-04), Rep.
John Larson
(CT-01) and Rep.
Albert Wynn
(MD-04) — to
create the
bipartisan House
Hydrogen and
Fuel Cell
Caucus. On June
28, 2005, we
kicked off the
Caucus with an
“End Dependence
Day” on Capitol
Hill.
What started
with four of us
now includes
more than 50
members. We all
are working
toward the same
goal – to guide
government
policy and
resources, and
to partner with
private-sector
and research
institutions to
achieve the
technology of a
hydrogen
economy.
Among some of
the goals of the
Hydrogen and
Fuel Cell Caucus
are:
-
Advocate
full funding
of the
Department
of Energy’s
hydrogen
programs,
including
existing
demonstration
programs.
-
Fund basic
science
research to
discover the
breakthroughs
needed for
affordable
hydrogen and
fuel cell
technology.
-
Promote
near-term
use of best
practices
rather than
premature
standards
that may
quickly
become
obsolete.
-
Advocate
keeping
hydrogen
affordable
and
promoting
means of
making it
widely
available.
-
Promote
hydrogen as
a safe,
reliable,
abundant and
clean fuel.
The Caucus has
been active and
we’ve had
successes. We
have authorized
billions of
dollars in
incentives for
the development
of alternative
fuels, including
hydrogen, and we
are pressing
hard to turn
that funding
into results.
Last July more
than eighty-one
members signed
our letter to
Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman,
urging the
Department of
Energy to fully
support hydrogen
and fuel cell
initiatives in
the fiscal 2008
budget.
During the 109th
Congress, the
House of
Representatives
passed a bill
authored by Rep.
Inglis to create
the H-Prize, a
competitive
funding program
to accelerate
the private
development of
hydrogen
technology. The
H-Prize Act
would authorize
$11 million in
annual
appropriations.
It is modeled on
science
competitions of
the past that
proved to be
highly
successful, such
as the Ansari X
Prize, which
spurred the
first privately
funded
suborbital human
spaceflight last
year.
Just as
President
Kennedy
challenged us to
land a man on
the moon by the
end of the
1960s, I believe
that developing
hydrogen
technology is
the space race
of this century.
We will work
hard during the
110th
Congress to get
this important
piece of
legislation
signed into law.
In July 2006, I
introduced my
own bill, H.R.
5973, Hydrogen
Transportation
Wins Over
Growing Reliance
on Oil — known
as H2 GROW,
which would
incentivize
retail-end
development of
hydrogen fueling
stations.
I believe the
federal
government’s
role is to set
the pace with
robust support
for developing
hydrogen
technology, just
as government
involvement was
necessary to the
construction of
pipelines,
refineries and
other
infrastructure
during the
petroleum era.
Private industry
is already
making a
significant
investment into
the hydrogen
economy. More
than 50 million
tons of hydrogen
is produced
worldwide each
year. There are
46 operational
hydrogen fueling
stations in the
Unites States,
and another 17
stations are
planned for
implementation.
Recently, Air
Products and
Chemicals — the
largest producer
of merchant
hydrogen —
unveiled a new
"Tri-Generation
Green Energy
System" which
will produce 300
pounds of
hydrogen per day
and make
electricity and
heat, using
natural gas,
propane or
renewable fuel
sources such as
anaerobic gas
from wastewater
treatment
plants.
Throughout the
world, there is
a real and
growing momentum
for hydrogen
energy. Hydrogen
buses are on the
road in Iceland
and continental
Europe, and even
some places in
the United
States. I’ve
driven hydrogen
cars and filled
up the tank with
hydrogen, just
like filling up
a conventional
car with
gasoline.
Most notable
here in the
United States is
the effort by
California
Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger
to build a
“Hydrogen
Highway” in
Southern
California. The
vision of the
Hydrogen Highway
is to have a
network of 150
to 200 hydrogen
fueling stations
throughout
California
(approximately
one station
every 20 miles
on the State’s
major highways)
that would make
hydrogen fuel
available to the
vast majority of
Californians.
I have a vision
that my own
District in
Pennsylvania
will be the
starting point
for the Hydrogen
Highway East
along the
90-mile stretch
of Interstate 78
from
Pennsylvania’s
Lehigh Valley
into New York
City.
With steady
support from the
public sector
and the
innovation of
the private
sector, the day
will come soon
when Americans
routinely fuel
up at the
hydrogen station
in a cleaner,
stronger and
safer future.
--###--
Charlie Dent
represents the
15th
District of
Pennsylvania
in the U.S.
House of
Representatives.
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