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Congresswoman Louise Slaughter

Representing the 25th District of New York

Energy and Environment

 

The United States is blessed with bountiful energy resources and beautiful environmental treasures. Congresswoman Slaughter is focused on developing a sustainable future where advancements in green technology help power the U.S. economy.

Congresswoman Slaughter also believes that Rochester has a special role to play in this new economy due to the concentration of innovative, “green” technology companies in the greater Rochester region. She is focused on doing all that she can to ensure that businesses in Rochester have access to the funding they need to grow and that our natural resources are preserved.

Priorities

  • Protecting the Great Lakes: Over 26 million Americans rely on the Great Lakes for commerce, transportation, drinking water, and recreation. Congresswoman Slaughter believes that we have an obligation to future generations to keep this precious resource well-maintained, safe, clean, and free of invasive species. To learn more about the Great Lakes, click hereCongresswoman Slaughter Outside with a Canoe Paddle
  • Health and Environment: Congresswoman Slaughter recognizes that protecting the environment isn’t just good for the land, it’s good for our health. As the only microbiologist in Congress, she is committed to fighting environmental health hazards that are both seen and unseen.
  • Supporting Renewable Energy: Congresswoman Slaughter wants to see America leading the world in alternative energy development. Instead of watching other countries in Asia and Europe invest in renewable energy and America sit idly by, Congresswoman Slaughter believes the U.S. should be doing all we can to reap the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy. We should seize the opportunity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create good-paying, high-skill jobs here at home, and protect the environment.
  • Investing in Local Businesses: Congresswoman Slaughter knows that the advancements in green technology happening in Rochester will create jobs, make us more energy-independent, and preserve our planet for future generations. She has persistently partnered with local businesses to secure funding from the federal government and cut through red tape. Congresswoman Slaughter is focused on helping Rochester’s businesses do what they do best: create and innovate.

Accomplishments

  • Eastman Business Park (EBP): In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter announced more than $1.2 million in public and private funding to help innovative energy companies at EBP accelerateEastman Business Park commercialization of their technology. A $610,000 Economic Development Administration grant was a direct result of six months of advocacy, including support for EBP’s application and facilitating communication between the agency and the park.
  • Green Bank Act: In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter introduced Green Bank legislation to expand funding opportunities for businesses interested in developing green energy. This legislation would help the federal government partner with and provide seed funding to state-level clean energy financing institutions. Funds from this bank would directly finance clean energy and energy efficiency projects across the United States.
  • Children’s Health Task Force Act: Congresswoman Slaughter introduced the Children’s Health Task Force in 2012 to protect the most vulnerable victims of environmental health hazards – our children. Congresswoman Slaughter's legislation would permanently establish an inter-agency task force created by President Bill Clinton that addresses high-priority risks to children’s health, such as the impact of air pollution, hazardous chemicals, and lead exposure.
  • OLEDWorks: In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter announced $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for OLEDWorks of Rochester. This funding will support the development and commercialization of technology that can significantly reduce energy costs for American families and businesses and grow high tech U.S. manufacturing jobs. This investment in OLEDWorks shows that Rochester is leading the way in reducing energy costs through this homegrown industry.
  • Solar Power: Congresswoman Slaughter supported a $450,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to Rochester’s Intrinsiq Materials. This leader in nanotechnology will develop and commercialize an innovative method of using nickel silicide and copper in solar power cells at a fraction of current costs with a greener manufacturing process. Congresswoman Slaughter is excited to support this critical work making solar power more affordable.
  • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI): Congresswoman Slaughter is a longstanding leader of the GLRI. She is an original co-sponsor of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act, which would authorize the GLRI program for five years at a funding level of $300 million per year. This critical program is the largest federal investment in the Great Lakes in decades and provides funding to fight invasive species, coordinate protection efforts, and bring together organizations with a shared interest in the Great Lakes. Each year since the program’s inception in 2009, Congresswoman Slaughter has led her Great Lakes House colleagues in urging the Appropriations Committee to adequately fund the GLRI, resulting in over $1.9 billion in federal funding since Fiscal Year 2010. To read more about the Great Lakes, please click here.
  • Critical Conservation Area (CCA): In 2014, Congresswoman Slaughter successfully called on the United States Department of Agriculture to designate the Great Lakes as a Critical Conservation Area under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. This gives Great Lakes communities access to hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to implement conservation practices. This assistance not only helps farmers further their efforts to protect the region’s waters, but also provides them the resources to continue ensuring an abundant food supply for the future.

More on Energy and Environment

October 20, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC — Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (NY-25) announced today that Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will be visiting Rochester next week at the Congresswoman’s request. Slaughter invited Secretary Moniz to Rochester to see firsthand how the work being done at the region’s energy-related research, development, and manufacturing facilities could be leveraged at the federal level. Additional details about the Secretary’s visit will be forthcoming.

July 18, 2016 Press Release

Rochester, NY – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter, co-chair of the bipartisan House Great Lakes Task Force, today announced introduction of the Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act, legislation to protect New York’s natural resources from the threat of invasive species. This legislation would prevent potentially harmful species from being imported into the country and across state lines.

June 6, 2016 Press Release

Buffalo, NY - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District began dredging at Rochester Harbor, NY, May 17 and will continue through mid-June.

As part of the two-year, $1,722,500 contract awarded to Luedtke Engineering Company of Frankfort, MI, a total of 210,000 cubic yards of sediment will be dredged from the federal navigation channel this year.

May 27, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC - In a bipartisan effort to recognize the natural beauty and value of the Finger Lakes, Reps. Tom Reed (NY-23), John Katko (NY-24), Louise Slaughter (NY-25), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Chris Gibson (NY-19), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) and Rep. Joe Crowley (NY-14) today introduced legislation to designate the region as a National Heritage Area (NHA).

March 22, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Sander Levin (D-MI), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and David Joyce (R-OH) today led a bipartisan group of 55 House lawmakers in requesting $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for Fiscal Year 2017. This successful initiative is helping restore the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water for nearly 40 million people and support jobs, commerce, agriculture, transportation, and tourism.  

March 1, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC — As the Rules Committee convenes this week to consider H.R. 3716, the Ensuring Terminated Providers are Removed from Medicaid and CHIP Act, and H.R. 4557, the Blocking Regulatory Interference from Closing Kilns Act of 2016, Ranking Member Louise Slaughter issued the following statement calling out Republican leaders for wasting time and failing to act on the priorities facing the country:

February 9, 2016 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter released the following statement on the release of President Barack Obama’s final budget. Included in the proposal are several of Congresswoman Slaughter’s local and national priorities, including funding for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). The budget makes unprecedented investments in research and development that will benefit the Rochester region while including $2.9 trillion of deficit reduction over ten years.

November 30, 2015 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC — As President Obama convenes world leaders to press for a landmark accord to combat climate change, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter today called-out congressional Republicans for moving in the opposite direction by putting forward yet more anti-environment giveaways to big polluters. House GOP leaders are preparing to consider three bills this week that would increase carbon pollution and fail to make investments in the clean energy of the future. As the Rules Committee convened a meeting to consider sending these three anti-environment bills to the House Floor, Rep.

October 1, 2015 Press Release

ROCHESTER, NY — Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY), co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, announced $1.2 million for SUNY Brockport to monitor wetlands along the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

September 1, 2015 Press Release

Two senior members of Congress announced today they are requesting a Department of Justice investigation into allegations of predatory financial schemes that target victims of lead poisoning.