The news on our environment gets worse and worse every day. The United Nations recently issued a report stating that we have to do something radical in the next decade in order to save the earth. It is possible to be environmentally smart and to preserve our economy and quality of life. It is going to take all of our effort to make this happen for our children and grand children.
The environment is second only to the war in importance to the people of the 13th Congressional District. We must ensure that all Americans, especially ethnic minorities, are included as part of this important discussion about alternative fuel, the use of beans, corn, sugar cane and other non-fossil fuels as options to reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports; and we must support renewable energy resources as solutions to global warming.
We must also ensure that the decades of environmental justice issues, matters that have disproportionately affected ethnic minorities, are tackled by reducing the number of sites with hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants in the United States, and to support the research, education and training of ethnic minorities in renewable energy solutions.
I am co-sponsor of the following bills aimed at helping conserve energy and preserve our environment:
H. R. 330, Metro Economies Green Act or MEGA: This bill would establish a metro area green zone grant program to make grants to local government units to support and establish green job programs that (1) target low-income, difficult-to-employ, and formerly incarcerated persons and (2) involve local business, academia, trade associations, nonprofits, and other stakeholders in energy-efficient economic development and green job training and creation.
H. R. 1310, Clean Water Protection Act: This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to define "fill material" to mean any pollutant that replaces portions of waters of the United States with dry land or that changes the bottom elevation of a water body for any purpose and to exclude any pollutant discharged into the water primarily to dispose of waste.
H. R. 1796, Residential Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act: This measure requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to publish the American National Standard for Single and Multiple Station Carbon Monoxide Alarms (American National Standard ANSI/UL 2034-2005) as a mandatory consumer product safety standard. It makes it unlawful for any manufacturer or distributor to import or distribute any new assembled or unassembled residential carbon monoxide detector unless it complies with the standard. This legislation also requires the CPSC to promulgate consumer product safety rules requiring, at a minimum, that every portable generator sold to the public for purposes other than resale will (1) have certain warning labels and a warning pictogram and (2) include in its instruction manual (if any) certain warnings and instructions.
H. R. 1835, New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009: This measure allows an excise tax credit through 2027 for alternative fuels and fuel mixtures involving compressed or liquefied natural gas, (2) allows an income tax credit through 2027 for alternative fuel motor vehicles powered by compressed or liquefied natural gas, (3) modifies the tax credit percentage for alternative fuel vehicles fueled by natural gas or liquefied natural gas, (4) allows a new tax credit for the production of vehicles fueled by natural gas or liquefied natural gas, and (5) extends through 2027 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures for refueling property relating to compressed or liquefied natural gas and allow an increased credit for such property.
H.R. 3106, Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act: This legislation directs the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest system.
H.R. 3202, Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2009: This bill establishes a Water Protection and Reinvestment Fund to support investments in clean water and drinking water infrastructure and for other purposes.