Dear Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Lucas:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce applauds your bipartisan leadership on energy issues and writes in support of tomorrow’s markup of bills that would drive innovation that enhances America’s global competitiveness while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. Specifically, the Chamber strongly supports the consideration of the following bills that would facilitate innovation, as part of the committee’s markup:
- H.R. 3597, the Solar Energy Research and Development Act of 2019, would help accelerate the next generation of solar energy technologies by expanding Department of Energy (DOE) efforts to improve the capacity, efficiency, manufacturing, reliability, and affordability of solar energy.
- H.R. 3609, the Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2019, would extend and expand the wind energy technology, research, development and testing program at DOE.
- H.R. 3607, the Fossil Energy Research and Development Act of 2019, would reauthorize and expand the research, development, and demonstration of fossil energy technologies, including carbon capture technologies for both power plants and industrial sources, and establish an innovative new “Climate Solutions Challenges” prize competition at DOE.
In addition, we encourage the Committee to move forward with efforts to reauthorize the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). ARPA-E aims to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through high-potential, high-impact energy projects that are too early-stage for private investment. The Chamber urges Congress to advance legislation that would expand ARPA-E’s efforts to reduce the cost and improve the performance of lower-emitting and more efficient technologies.
Collectively, these bills directly support the Chamber’s ongoing priority to identify and advance policies that continue to make American energy cleaner and stronger. We commend the Committee for its important work, and urge it to favorably report the above bills to the full House.
Sincerely,
Neil L. Bradley
cc: Members of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
