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H-Prize Act of 2006

Date: May 10, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Natural Resources


H-PRIZE ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - May 10, 2006)

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Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5143, the H-Prize Act of 2006, a bill that represents a significant step towards our Country's energy independence.

The recent rise in gas prices has only magnified the United States' overwhelming reliance on oil. We cannot allow our economy to be held captive by nations such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, whose manipulation of the world oil market can cause massive price disruptions at home. Obviously, we need another way.

The forecasts of future high oil prices make possible other options, and to further transition our economy away from its dependence on foreign oil we must pursue all of them--nuclear, renewables such as ethanol and biodiesel, wind, solar--and expand our domestic oil supplies by drilling in ANWR and offshore. One of the most promising of these alternatives is hydrogen power. Hydrogen's huge advantage is that it can be created from virtually any energy source, both conventional or unconventional. Indeed, in my district a company is planning to build a ``green hydrogen'' plant that will use waste materials that often end up in landfills. Broadening the materials that can be used as primary energy sources increases our chances at reducing our energy imports from overseas. And furthermore, by lowering emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, hydrogen power is good for the environment, too.

By establishing a national prize competition for innovations in hydrogen power, the H-Prize Act will summon our Nation's best and brightest to the challenge of overcoming the technical hurdles that stand in the way of the hydrogen economy. Government initiatives are no match for the entrepreneurial power of the private sector to discover a way to make hydrogen a viable alternative to oil.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Messrs. Inglis, Lipinski, and Boehlert for their hard work on this bill, and urge my colleagues to support it.

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