Us Senators Aim To Keep Renewable Power Bill Clean

Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:45pm EDT * Requires utilities to generate 15 pct renewable by 2021 * Bill gains two co-sponsors this week, now 4 Republicans * Senators want to pair bill with ethanol incentives By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Senators backing a bi-partisanbill that would make big utilities begin embracing renewableelectricity believe they can get enough votes to pass it withouthaving to add oil or nuclear incentives to the measure, aCongressional aide said on Friday. Democrat Jeff Bingaman, the chair of the Senates energy committee,and Senator Sam Brownback, a Republican, introduced the bill this weekthat includes a Renewable Electricity Standard, or RES. The RES is backed by environmentalists and other groups as aconsolation prize after the failure by the Senate to pass a morecomprehensive climate bill, one of the key priorities of the ObamaAdministration. The law would help reduce greenhouse gases by cuttingback on fossil fuel consumption. The bill, which is similar to an RES that passed easily in Bingamanscommittee last year, would require big utilities to generate 15percent renewable power such as solar, wind, geothermal, and somehydroelectric, by 2021. Since the senators introduced the new bill, two more senators haveclimbed on board as co-sponsors, bringing the total to 25. It has fourRepublican co-sponsors, including Charles Grassley. The bill would need 60 votes to pass in the 100-member Senate, but theaide cautioned against counting co-sponsors. "Many other senators are ready to vote for the bill but they are notready to co-sponsor it," the aide told Reuters, adding that somesenators do not want to add their names to it before the Nov. 2congressional elections. Bingaman told the Reuters Washington Summit this week he believes thebill will be taken up in a so-called lame duck session after theelections. [ID:nN22275479] He also told the Summit he does not see a big climate bill reachingthe Senate floor in the remainder of President Barack Obamas firstterm, undermining the administrations hopes of taking a lead role atthe global climate talks. Because the RES bill may be the only chance of getting energylegislation through the Senate this year, many senators who are notco-sponsors are attempting to add items to it that would get themsupport at home. Some senators see a chance to boost coal power and want electricityfrom plants where companies bury carbon emissions in the ground to becounted as a renewable power. Others want nuclear power to count. KEEPING IT CLEAN -- Scotts Contractingscottscontracting@gmail.comhttp://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.comhttp://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.comscotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.comSee the entire article at http://blog.stlouisrenewableenergy.com