U.S.
Senator Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand urged Senate
Appropriators to fully fund fuel cell research and development. The
United States is a leader in fuel cell research and development and is
a critical component of our economic recovery. Companies across New
York including GM, Delphi Automotive, Plug Power, Ener-G-Rosors,
Nanodynamics, ENrg, Kodak, and Harris RF Communications, as well as
institutions including the University of Rochester and the Rochester
Institute of Technology are significant contributors to fuel cell
research and development.
“Fuel
cells have been and will continue to be an economic engine in New York
State, particularly in Western New York and the Rochester Finger Lakes
region,” said Schumer. “Maintaining, and even increasing, the amount
of money that goes towards fuel cell research will allow New York
companies and universities to continue the ground breaking research
they are doing, provide jobs for New Yorkers, and allow the country to
work towards a future of energy independence and low pollution
vehicles.”
“Companies
in New York are at the cutting edge of fuel cell research and
development for products of all types, from cars to cameras,” said
Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Environment and Public Works
Committee. “Investment in fuel cells will help us compete
internationally in energy and transportation, enhance our country’s
ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will create new jobs
across the country. It is a significant contributor to our local
employment, and I am committed to fighting for jobs throughout New
York.”
According
to assessments by the National Academies and the Hydrogen Technical
Advisory Committee, fuel cell technology is not only meeting and
exceeding the Department of Energy’s long-term research and development
plan, but it is also on track to achieve commercial viability by 2015.
As the U.S. considers pathways to achieve aggressive goals for gas and
greenhouse gas reductions, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand said it is
critical to develop diverse technological options, including fuel
cells.
Other
countries are aggressively pursuing hydrogen and fuel cells including
Japan and Germany, which plan early commercialization in the 2015
timeframe. The U.S. is currently a leader in automotive fuel cell
technology. Senator Schumer and Gillibrand explained that maintaining
funding for the fuel cell program would build on this position and
develop hydrogen and fuel cells on the same time as competing nations.
In
a letter late last week to Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Ranking
Member Robert Bennett (R-Utah) of the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand
wrote, “To maintain our nation’s leadership role in advanced vehicle
technologies, we should maintain and support the advances our nation
has won in hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cell research.”