Fortenberry "Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency" Amendment Adopted by House Ag Subcommittee

Press Release

Fortenberry "Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency" Amendment Adopted by House Ag Subcommittee

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry today sponsored a successful amendment to the 2007 Farm Bill energy title markup. The amendment, which would authorize the creation of a pilot program for energy self-sufficient rural communities, was adopted by the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research. Fortenberry released the following statement:

"The interest in renewable energy continues to grow. Imagine a small community which is completely energy self-sufficient. This initiative could become a template for communities throughout the nation. This Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative will allow rural communities to integrate a wide variety of renewable energy sources and technologies and move toward energy independence."

The Fortenberry amendment creates a new Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative with the purpose of creating models of energy independence on a rural community level. The amendment authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to up to five eligible rural communities annually.

The pilot program grants would be used by the communities to develop an integrated renewable energy system in order to increase energy self-sufficiency. The community energy systems would promote energy efficient technologies as well as renewable sources as biofuels, biomass, biogas, wind and solar. This will result in model systems and best practices which could be replicated elsewhere in the nation.

The amendment will move forward as part of the House Agriculture Subcommittee's 2007 Farm Bill energy title proposal.

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