May 10, 2006

Doolittle Helps Advance Energy Legislation
Hydrogen Research Incentives Created, Natural Gas Ban Lifted

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WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, House Republican Conference Secretary John T. Doolittle (R-Roseville) voted to pass two legislative measures aiming to satisfy America’s short-term and long-term energy needs. The House of Representatives passed legislation co-sponsored by Doolittle to stimulate the development of hydrogen as a practical alternative fuel to oil. Also, the House Appropriations Committee, of which Doolittle is a member, approved an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2007 Interior spending bill that would lift a 25-year-old congressional ban on offshore natural gas exploration.

“We must take decisive action to ensure that the United States has a reliable supply of energy now and in the future,” said Doolittle. “I am confident that hydrogen fuel technology will help power America into the next generation. In the mean time, we must take full advantage of our existing supplies of clean natural gas.”

The House voted 416 to 6 to pass H.R. 5143, the H – Prize Act of 2006. This bill establishes a prize competition to encourage the development of breakthrough technologies that would hasten the use of hydrogen as a significant fuel source. The H-Prize, modeled after the successful Ansari X Prize which spurred the first privately funded suborbital human spaceflight last year, would help overcome technical challenges related to hydrogen by offering prizes in the following three categories:

• Technological Advancements – four $1 million prizes awarded biennially in the categories of hydrogen production, storage, distribution and utilization;
   

• Prototypes – one $4 million prize awarded biennially for the creation of a working hydrogen vehicle prototype; and
   

• Transformational Technologies – one grand prize consisting of a $10 million federal contribution and a goal of at least $40 million in additional private matching funds would be awarded for development of wells-to-wheels breakthrough technologies.

“The H-Prize will stimulate private sector competition to knock down technological barriers in making the hydrogen economy a reality.” Doolittle stated. “Hydrogen is the wave of the future and this legislation is designed to provide results-based financial incentives to bring about that future.”

Also today, the House Appropriations Committee voted 37-25 in support of an amendment offered by Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) to the FY07 Interior Appropriations Bill that would lift a congressional moratorium on natural gas exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) beyond 20 miles offshore. The amendment would not affect a separate federal ban on offshore oil production.

“American’s suffer from the highest natural gas prices in the world,” Doolittle stated. “By opening the OCS to natural gas production, U.S. businesses and consumers will reap the enormous benefits of reducing our reliance on foreign sources of energy.”