Morgan Hill – Morgan Hill native Bethany Biskey has traveled from sea to shining sea this year to serve as a congressional intern for U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney, a Democrat representing the 11th congressional district, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
Biskey, 22, is in her last semester at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where she majors in political science.
Her duties in McNerney’s office include answering phones, reading and sorting incoming mail and giving Capitol tours for visiting constituents. She says the most interesting things about working for a congressman are “the fast-paced atmosphere in the office and the opportunity to meet with and talk to constituents.”
Biskey is the daughter of Jim and Tina Wright, grade school teachers at Morgan Hill’s Paradise Valley Elementary and South San Jose’s Sakamoto Elementary, respectively. After graduation, Biskey intends to stay in D.C. and find a job on the Hill as a congressional staffer. Her policy interests are in education, the environment, renewable energy and health policy.
McNerney’s Energy Bill Passes Subcommittee
Washington, DC – Congressman Jerry McNerney’s bill for developing geothermal energy solutions passed the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee Wednesday.
The subcommittee is part of the House Committee on Science and Technology, on which McNerney serves.
“Geothermal energy is clean, reliable, always available and 100 percent domestic,” McNerney said in a news release. “Enhanced geothermal should be an important component of the efforts to move our nation towards energy independence.”
The bill, the Advanced Geothermal Research and Development Act of 2007, expands existing geothermal energy programs at the Department of Energy and authorizes $75 million a year for fiscal years 2008 to 2012 to fund research, development, demonstration and commercial application of new geothermal technologies.
Unlike renewable resources that depend on daylight or wind, geothermal can provide “baseload” power, which means that the source is uninterrupted and constant, running day and night, 365 days a year.
