Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem to have found a unifying issue, and it’s a hot one lurking beneath the earth’s surface: geothermal energy.
Without objection and without partisan digs from either side, the House on Tuesday passed by voice vote a package of six bills — three from Republicans and three from Democrats — intended to make it easier to permit geothermal projects on public lands.
“When Americans are often told Congress cannot work together across the aisle, this bill is proof that we still can,” said Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., who sponsored the base bill carrying language from all six measures.
Hurd and colleagues from both parties stood on the floor Tuesday to extol the benefits of geothermal exploration, for state and federal economies, for grid reliability and for energy affordability.
Nevada Democrat Susie Lee noted the House Natural Resources Committee had approved the individual measures by a bipartisan voice vote in March, “because members from all corners of the ideological spectrum know that geothermal can make a real difference.”
