Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act of 2011

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 441, ``The Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act of 2011,'' which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to issue permits for microhydro projects in the Kantishna Hills area within the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. These projects will harness the power of water to create up to 100 kilowatts of electricity that will be used to serve much of the area.

As the Representative from the 18th Congressional District in Houston, TX, our nation's energy capital, I firmly believe in supporting viable renewable energy projects. In my home state the energy industry and its supporting businesses has created thousands of jobs and has fostered economic growth. It is imperative that we find ways to meet our nation's grown appetite for energy.

According to the National Hydropower Association, in the United States hydropower projects are responsible for providing 81 percent of the nation's renewable electricity generation and about 10 percent of the nation's total electricity. In terms of everyday use, this is enough to power 37.8 million homes.

The average Americans consumes 10,896 kilowatts of electricity each year. In Texas, alone, over 9 million residences are using electricity, at a rate of about 1,000 kilowatts a month. This costs Texans an estimated $141.23 a month in electric bills. At a time when we are all tightening our belts. If one of our solutions can be found by simply harnessing water, then it deserves more than a second glance.

Water has been used as a power source for centuries, from Africa to Asia to Europe. As of today, there are 85,000 small-scale hydro power plants in China alone. We are not talking about large-scale projects that have an impact on wildlife habitats.

A large-scale hydro project often requires a sizeable dam. These large-scale dams have raised numerous environmental concerns. Micro projects have significantly less impact on the environment because they use the natural flow of a river and make only minute modifications to the stream channel and flow of water in order to generate power.

Before us, today, are renewable energy projects that will have a marginal impact on the environment (when compared to large-scale plants); a project that will create jobs; and a project that will create much needed energy. On balance this project appears to find symmetry between protecting the environment, creating jobs and meeting our nation's energy needs.

I believe that finding ways to address and meet our growing energy needs is vital to the economic success of our nation. We should allow the expansion of renewable energy projects that have a limited impact on the environment, will create jobs, and will meet our energy needs. I believe working with the energy community to bolster creative industry approaches and protecting our environment will result in job creation. I believe that sound energy policies not only will protect our environment but are important to the long term health and wellbeing of our citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 441) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue permits for a microhydro project in nonwilderness areas within the boundaries of Denali National Park and Preserve, to acquire land for Denali National Park and Preserve from Doyon Tourism, Inc., and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 441, the Kantishna Hills Renewable Energy Act, would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue permits for a microhydro project within a nonwilderness area of Denali National Park. Additionally, it will facilitate a small land exchange between the National Park Service and Doyon, Ltd., which owns and operates the facilities that will take advantage of the proposed microhydro project. Finally, at the request of the National Park Service, this bill will allow the Park Service to permit similar projects that exist or may exist in the future. Roughly only six acres of land would be affected.

Doyon is one of 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Currently, the facilities at Kantishna, which are located at the end of a 90-mile park road, operate exclusively off diesel fuel. Not being connected to any grid system, the roadhouse must produce all its energy onsite. This means trucking thousands of gallons of diesel fuel over the long and treacherous park road. Energy created by this microhydro project could cut the roadhouse's diesel usage in half and drastically reduce the need of these trips.

Down the road at the new Eielson Visitor Center, the National Park Service operates a similar microhydro project to great success, and the Kantishna Roadhouse seeks to take advantage of similar technology that could help rid their reliance on costly diesel fuel.

Working with both the National Park Service and Doyon, we have before us a bill that was crafted in a truly collaborative fashion that is a win-win that lowers the fossil fuel use in the park, lowers costs for the lodge operators, and protects park resources.

I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge the passage of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mrs. NAPOLITANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

I really must commend my colleague and my friend, Mr. Young, on the introduction of this piece of legislation as we're looking for more individual entities to go to green energy and save fossil fuel. Besides, it saves many other things that we've talked about in our committees and subcommittees, so I'm glad to see this, Mr. Young.

We fully support projects designated to reduce the pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels. In this instance, a small hydroelectric project will be used to supply some of the power currently being generated by a diesel generator for a backcountry lodge.

The project will also reduce the number of trips needed to haul diesel fuel into the park. Hopefully, the National Park Service can find many other units where cleaner energy technology can be employed and thus save everybody some heartache.

I commend, again, my colleague and my friend for introduction of this piece of legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.