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In 1974 Nebraska made history when we became the first state in the nation to complete its stretch of Interstate 80. Thirty-five years later I-80 has more than proven itself as a safe and efficient way to carry vehicles quickly and easily from coast to coast.
It wouldn’t have been possible had President Eisenhower not had the vision in 1957 to see an ever growing number of cars and trucks that were using what would soon be an outdated system of highways for border to border travel and provided federal funds to begin building the interstate system.
Smart Grid is Like the Interstate
Now in the 21st Century comparisons are being made to what Ike saw in the need to create a super highway for traffic to the need today to create a super highway to carry electricity across the country.
The current electrical grid resembles the road system before the interstate was built. Wires installed in the mid 20th Century are now being tasked with carrying 21st Century electricity loads. In addition, fees are collected all along the way, making it more difficult and expensive to move electricity from its source to its market.
We need new major extra-high voltage backbone lines that cross the country just like the major interstates cross the country, only instead of vehicles they will carry electricity. The Energy Superhighway in The SMART Energy bill, which I recently introduced, will be a grid that will make it feasible to carry electricity generated by the winds of Nebraska smoothly and efficiently to the population centers on the coasts. It will require federal dollars to make it happen.
Comprehensive Energy Plan
An Energy Superhighway is just one component of the comprehensive energy bill I have introduced in the Senate. It also furthers development of biofuels and provides for new domestic energy production including natural gas and oil, as well as nuclear, while laying the groundwork for action to address climate change without damaging the economy.
Bipartisan Effort
The SMART Energy Act grew out of my work during the summer and fall of 2008 as a member of the so-called Gang of 10-- the bipartisan group of senators that developed an energy plan that eventually attracted another 10 bipartisan Senate backers.
The energy crisis last summer caught the country flat-footed. This bill intends to make sure that does not happen again. With the SMART Energy Act, we will ensure that we can open new markets for Nebraska-produced energy, support our domestic economy and jobs, and meet the demands of our country by relying on the Middle West, not the Middle East.
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