Providing For Consideration Of H.R. 3585, Solar Technology Roadmap Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 3585, the Solar Technology Roadmap Act of 2010.

It is critical that we promote the development of solar energy technology in order to expand our national energy profile. Such advancements are also important in helping us achieve our goal of energy independence.

Colorado, in particular, has great potential for the generation and use of solar energy. Ten miles west of the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Alamosa County, Colorado, sits an 8.2 megawatt photovoltaic plant, one of the largest solar farms in the Nation. With 1 megawatt having the capacity to power 800 homes, enough energy is produced at the Alamosa plant to power over 6,500 homes. The facility is expected to add 250 megawatts of solar power by 2015.

Earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management identified southern Colorado as a solar energy study area for concentrated solar energy production. The two dozen areas currently being evaluated by the Bureau of Land Management could produce as much as 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity. As a rancher, I am confident that the positive environmental impact, economic development, and cost savings yielded by the access to solar energy would benefit rural communities across the Nation.

Mr. Speaker, it is crucial that we promote the use of technologies such as solar as part of our energy mix. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to give this bill their full support. Investment in advanced technologies will ensure that America remains on the cutting edge, secures our standing as a leader on the alternative energy front, and brings us one step closer to energy independence.

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