US Senator Lisa Murkowski pushed legislation intended to improve the efficiency of the federal government in addressing issues related to energy and water. She spoke Wednesday to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Water and Energy Subcommittee.
Senator Murkowski spoke about the Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability Act. The legislation would focus on water being used to produce energy and the energy required to treat, transport and distribute water. Murkowski says the energy nexus is important because water is crucial for every aspect of life.
“Without water, there’s no electricity, no fuel to power our industry, our means to transportation and no plants to produce biofuels. This is the means to energy that we cannot do without. And when it comes to energy for water, we need energy to convey water from its source to consumers. We need the energy to pump and treat and increasingly reuse our water in the numerous waste water treatment plants that we have around the country and we obviously water to treat and provide safe and readily available drinking water.”
Murkowski says bill intends to encourage public-private partnership to enhance energy production. She says the bill will save tax payers money by stream lining the government’s involvement. However, Murkowski admits there are still some questions unanswered.
“As we look to implement constructive energy water nexus related programs within our federal government. But it does leave unanswered one question out there and that’s ‘how are we going to accomplish that? How are we going to get there?’ And that’s a question I’m going to be looking forward to probing you on today. I think that my legislation can provide the path forward on the implementation.”
Murkowski is the top republican on the energy committee and is working on the legislation with the support of senators including Senator Mary Landrieu, a democrat from Louisiana, and Senator Tammy Baldwin, a democrat from Wisconsin.