Reid May Revive Renewable Electricity Standard
News Date September 07, 2010
In a conference call with reporters on August 31, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) indicated he will likely include a provision for a renewable electricity standard (RES) in energy legislation that he intends to introduce in the Senate once the body returns from recess. He is hopeful that the inclusion of the RES will help garner Republican votes, two in particular.
The RES was excluded from previous efforts to pass energy legislation, which focused on, in varying turns, climate change, cap-and-trade and provisions to address the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Each of these efforts was unable to garner the 60 votes needed to pass. Energy legislation passed out of the Energy and Natural Resources last year, however, that included an RES provision and received bipartisan support. (Contact: Brad McKinney)