Casten’s Clean Industrial Technology Act Passes Science, Space, and Technology Committee
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten's (D-IL-06) Clean Industrial Technology Act (CITA) passed unanimously in the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology (SST). In July, Rep. Casten introduced the bipartisan, bicameral bill that would spur innovation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources and make American companies more competitive in the global economy. Casten, a member on the SST Committee, spoke in favor of the bill today.
To watch Rep. Casten's full remarks at SST, click the image above or click here.
Casten said, in part, "The climate crisis is here, and we must address it with all the urgency and complexity it warrants. We've begun this response with the lower-hanging fruit – the sectors of our economy and society that are easier to decarbonize.
"…We have policies to incentivize power companies and utilities to move their generation away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner sources. We have plans in motion to encourage car companies to produce more efficient vehicles. We've talked about reforming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and requiring public corporations to disclose their climate-related risks.
"But as meaningful and important as this all is, we have to acknowledge we cannot decarbonize the economy without also figuring out hard-to-decarbonize sectors… The Clean Industrial Technology Act before us today makes a big step in this direction."
The bill was led by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Mike Braun (R-IN), along with U.S. Representatives David McKinley (R-WV-01), Aumua Amata (R-AS-At Large), and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30).
Under CITA, the Department of Energy (DOE) in coordination with the Office of Science and Technology Policy would establish a new advisory council to coordinate funding for developing innovative technologies for industrial processes. The council would work with other federal agencies, National Laboratories, industry, and higher education institutions to advance research and demonstration projects for reducing emissions in the industrial sector. The Department of Energy would also establish a technical assistance program to help states, local governments, and tribal organizations implement the low carbon technologies.
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