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Climate change presents opportunities and challenges for nation’s largest renewable energy resource
Contact:
Angel Brownawell
202-682-1700, ext. 14
WASHINGTON DC (June 6, 2007) – The anticipated effects of climate change on the nation’s water supply could pose a significant challenge for one of the best climate solutions – hydropower, the nation’s largest source of renewable energy with a substantial amount of growth potential still untapped. This flexible, reliable energy source has addressed droughts and climate changes in the past, but global climate change poses a major policy challenge. Reinvestment in water energy research and development has never been more important. Through the application of new technologies, greater efficiencies of the nation’s water supply will ensure hydropower will continue to play a vital role in meeting new energy demands – all while conserving what is anticipated to be a significantly constrained resource.
That is the message the National Hydropower Association is offering before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power at a June 6 hearing on the Impacts of Climate Change on Water Supply and Availability in the United States.
WHEN: 2:30 p.m. on June 6, 2007
WHERE: Energy Committee Hearing Room – Dirksen 366
WHO: NHA member Tim Culbertson, general manager of Grant County Public Utility District, No. 2, a consumer-owned utility in rural, central Washington.
“The hydropower industry must remain actively engaged in the discussions on climate change,” Culbertson said. “We have begun, along with state and local partners, to undertake an examination of the issues; to review policies to address them; and to take steps to mitigate potential effects.”
WHY: Climate change is causing a rippling effect on our world – impacts to water supply and availability are only one example. To reach and maintain the full potential water offers as a renewable energy resource, our nation needs federal policies that encourage investment and incentives for research, development and deployment of new advanced hydropower technologies.
View the full text of NHA's written testimony: June 6, 2007 - Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee Hearing (PDF)
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