CONGRESSMAN Jared Polis 2nd DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Washington, Oct 26 - Two amendments authored by Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) that will help set the U.S. on a road to global leadership in the production of solar energy technology were included in H.R. 3585—the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, which passed the House by a vote of 310 - 106 last week.  

“Right now, because of the policies we have and have not passed, our country is losing the innovation race in a technology we invented,” said Polis.  “Europe, China, and other countries are leapfrogging us in the race to refine the technology that will power our future.  This bill is the focus and directive that we as a nation need in order to realize the great potential that solar energy has had for decades. “

The Solar Technology Roadmap, modeled after a government program established to assist the semiconductor industry in the early 1990s when the semiconductor industry, like the solar industry today, had no clear plan for research and development and faced fierce foreign competition.  This legislation seeks to enable American solar companies to better compete in a burgeoning worldwide industry by investing in solar energy research and development and by establishing a responsive public-private partnership (called the “Roadmap Committee”) that will guide and direct these investments to better meet the needs of the American industry.

Polis’ first amendment would direct the roadmap committee, made of members from both the Department of Energy and from the Solar Industry, to identify a set of “best practices” for Department of Energy national labs that will improve the ability of solar technology that they develop to make it to the market place. His second amendment directs the roadmap committee to review current financing models that have thus far been successful in spreading the high upfront costs of solar energy over long periods making this technology more affordable.  

“Congress’ past attitude toward renewable energy and solar in particular has been simply shameful,” said Polis.  “Time after time, we’ve failed to support the small businesses, the technology, and the policies that could have and should have changed our nation’s energy outlook decades ago.  We desperately need to focus our research and investments, and this legislation will do just that.”

Polis is Vice Chairman of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), “nicknamed the Green Dogs,” a focused, action-based caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, and co-sponsored the Solar Technology Roadmap Act.

Video and text of Polis’ floor speech are available on his website www.polis.house.gov.