5 Ideas That Drive Innovation

When you think about how far we’ve come in technological developments over the last few decades, or even over the last few years, it really is astounding. The same holds true for technology and renewable energy.
Our tech sector is a big slice of our GDP, and growing. It also accounts for millions of jobs. America is the innovation hub of the world and ground-breaking technology is created here. We have a huge competitive advantage.

Here are 5 ideas to keep America moving forward:

1. Infrastructure

The internet is the interstate highway system of the 21st century. The stronger our technological infrastructure, the stronger our economy. We live in a connected world and we must make sure every single American has access to this highway of information. Think about all that you do online, and how has the internet changed your life. Now imagine that last year in America 55 million people didn’t have access to broadband. That’s a roadblock in building a stronger economy. With internet, people can apply to jobs online and gain access to trainings and information they need to succeed.
Not only do we need to invest in our technical infrastructure, but we need to do more to connect communities by focusing on building better transportation in suburban and rural areas. When people can get places faster and easier, our economy booms. I will continue to fight for funds to build better roads, safer bridges, and more public transportation options for New Mexico residents.

2. Incentives

It’s time we end tax breaks for companies who are leaving America . We need to give tax incentives to companies who are inventing and innovating — who are taking a stab at fixing the challenges we face, and that includes our efforts to curb climate change and expand renewable energy. I am leading the effort in the House to create a national renewable energy and energy efficiency standard that incentives the use of clean energy, thereby creating good jobs, enhancing our economic competitiveness, all while lowering energy bills and putting money back in consumers’ pockets.

3. Immigration reform

Immigration reform is key to driving our economy and our country forward. While there are rational economic reasons for not forcing immigrants to return home, I first want to say, we are a nation of immigrants and we forget who we are if we forget that. We should not be in the business of tearing apart families. Immigrants who have been educated here, who have created jobs here, and who have worked hard in search of a better lives for themselves and their family have made our nation stronger.
Republicans in Congress need to stop standing in the way of passing comprehensive immigration reform that gives families the security of not being torn apart so they can continue to contribute to their communities.

4. Invest in renewables

The government has long played investor. Now is not the time to start rolling back our efforts. We need to strengthen the resources our Department of Energy has at its disposal to make key investments in technology and renewables. We need more projects like the small-business voucher pilot-project which is investing $7 million in 33 small businesses around the country, including iBeam Materials based in Santa Fe. These small businesses will partner with nine national laboratories like the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. The Dept. of Energy has another $13 million in vouchers to award and looks to double the number of small business they are working with. This is the kind of investment in renewables we need to foster to move forward.
When renewable energy was first born, it wasn’t profitable for a lot of companies. It required investments and experiments. And let me tell you something about smart investors and smart experimenters; they look to the future. They take action not based on what is happening right now, but look at what is happening now and act in anticipation of the future. The government should double-down on being a smart investor and make renewable energy innovation possible.

5. Inexhaustible

We must be inexhaustible in our efforts to fight against politicians who refuse to act on climate! There is an urgent need to curb climate change and Republicans are exacerbating the crisis by not acting! The science is 100% clear and anybody who is reluctant to drive our economy toward a clean energy future is not working on your behalf. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and we simply cannot risk going backward. We cannot tolerate elected officials who are not proactively working toward combating climate change.
Natural gas production is an important part of New Mexico’s economy and curbing methane by using our resources effectively and efficiently is good for our economy and our environment. As Chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, we worked to increase renewable energy production by New Mexico utilities to 20 percent of their total production by 2020. We also pushed to diversify the renewable portfolio to include solar energy. With colleagues in California, Oregon and Washington, I signed on to the Joint Action Framework on Climate Change on behalf of the state of New Mexico, bringing states together to fight global warming and change the way they generated energy. I’m proud our President is looking toward the future, partnering with Prime Minister Trudeau to take action to reduce methane emissions. We need more leadership like that in Congress.
These five I’s will move us forward, but the first step is building a democracy that works for our shrinking middle class. Our Congress is broken and elected members who say that they have our back are refusing to act on the challenges facing our nation. We need to change the culture in Washington.
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