TASK FOR< I AND SI BCOMMITTEE OX ENERGY, 19 689 



forces. I commend you tor your initiative. I am grateful to be serving with you on 

 this committee. 



Gold water, who along with McCormack, Teaguc, and Mosher 

 cosponsored the principal bill, spoke out strongly for its passage when 

 the full committee markup session occurred on August 15, 1974. 



GETTING ON BOARD FOR SOLAR ENERGY 



When the magic day arrived for the House to debate the bill, 

 the scene was reminiscent of the solar heating and cooling bill — there 

 was a wild rush to get on board. The earlier bill dealt with short-term 

 applications, while the bill the House debated on September 18, 1974, 

 established a structure for more long-range utilization of various forms 

 of solar energy. It took two days for the House to finish action on the 

 bill. Many Members wanted to say their piece and praise the national 

 implications as well as the local applications. Also, McCormack's 

 congressional primary was on September 18, and Teague wanted to 

 give him a chance to return and speak on his bill. When the roll was 

 called on September 19, no House Member had arisen to speak against 

 the bill and it passed by a 383-3 margin. 



The Senate passed a somewhat similar bill, but was considerably 

 more liberal in authorizing $100 million instead of the modest $2 

 million provided in the House bill. The final version compromised on 

 $75 million. 



THE GEOTHERMAL BILL 



Work by the subcommittee on the Geothermal Energy Research, 

 Development, and Demonstration Act of 1974 started in 1973- It was 

 preceded by the background data in the 1972 task force report on 

 energy, which concluded that geothermal energy should have greatly 

 increased R. & D. emphasis. The first geothermal bill introduced in 

 1973 was tailored by Representative Sam Steiger (Republican of 

 Arizona) to be referred to the House Interior Committee, based on 

 the work already being done by the Department of Interior, primarily 

 through the U.S. Geological Survey. Brown then introduced a bill 

 in June, followed by a McCormack bill in October, both of which 

 made use of the technique of drawing in the National Science Foun- 

 dation so their bills went to the Science Committee. Brown and 

 McCormack rounded up 90 cosponsors and merged their bills. 



As they got ready to hold hearings on geothermal energy, sched- 

 uled for early in 1974, McCormack asked Teague to see if the commit- 

 tee could draft former astronaut and future U.S. Senator, Dr. Harrison 

 "Jack" Schmitt, a geologist, to help on the bill. Dr. Schmitt had 

 already been pegged to become NASA's energy expert. When Teague 

 wrote to Dr. Fletcher on November 29, 1973, he stated: 



