ADVAN< ID IMlU.'i IK HNolOGIES 



943 



of microwaves was devastating to human beings. Ottinger warned 

 against the military implications of developing a destructive micro- 

 wave beam. 



When the bill was debated on the House floor on June 22, 1978, 

 Ottinger was the only committee member to speak against it. He 

 stated: 



This program is a creature of the space industry conceived to keep its nose in the 

 Federal trough forever. 



Wydler needled him with this observation:. 



The gentleman is against nuclear energy. The gentleman has always been selling 

 the people on the idea of using solar power for energy. Now, here is one of the ways 

 we can do it, and now when we get it on the floor the gentleman is on his feet opposing 

 this as well. What are we going to use? 



Ottinger responded: 



I consider this a real perversion of solar energy. 



He added that the rockets to launch the satellites would burn holes in 

 the ionosphere, permitting increased solar radiation. Flippo rebutted 

 that "this bill does not attempt to hide, to disguise, to ignore, or to 

 minimize the environmental issues associated with the SSPS concept." 

 He indicated that the bill established an independent review mech- 

 anism to assess environmental, biological, and ecological issues. 



Fish rallied some of the environmentalists to support the bill 

 because of his own environmental record. "I rise as an unreconstructed 

 solar power advocate and I rise in support," Fish started off. He ac- 

 knowledged there were possible drawbacks, but advised: 



I believe that we must still investigate these approaches and determine the 

 extent of the barriers to their implementation if we are to formulate a rational 

 energy policy. 



THE SSPS BILL PASSES HOUSE IN 1978 



The bill passed by the margin of 267 to 96, with Ottinger, Blouin, 

 Brown, and Downey the only committee members in opposition. The 

 Senate, however, failed to act on the bill in 1978. 



In 1977, the Congress appropriated only $4 million for the SSPS, 

 which was divided between DOE with $2.3 million and NASA, $1.7 

 million. In reviewing the cooperative NASA-DOE energy programs, 

 the Fuqua Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications on Feb- 

 ruary 8, 1978 touched on the work being carried forward in the SSPS. 

 R. D. Ginter, NASA's Assistant Associate Administrator for Energy 



