U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) unveiled an ambitious energy conservation plan this week that he says could wean the U.S. off foreign oil completely in two decades.
The plan calls for a massive switch to electric vehicles and mass transit to save more than 8.3 million barrels of oil per day, which is more than the 7 million imported from other countries.
Merkley says the U.S. would need to invest much more in battery and recharging technologies, while improving the efficiency of trucks and moving more cargo by rail.
Merkley also proposes creating a National Council on Energy Security–a NASA-like agency to keep energy conservation goals on track.
Read additional coverage in the Statesman Journal.
EPA Rules In Danger Again
Coal-state Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has proposed a bill to suspend for two years the EPA’s new rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to allow a vote on the bill, according to a Dow Jones story, although the bill first must pass through the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Rockefeller is one of several moderate Democrats breaking the party’s unity on energy and climate issues. He voted for Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski’s resolution to have the EPA’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding repealed. That resoultion was narrowly defeated last week in the Senate.
Caucus Remains Undecided
Senate Democrats emerged from a special caucus meeting in the Capitol on Thursday with no clear consensus yet on the fate of energy and climate legislation due on the floor before the August recess.
Read the Politico story at the link below.
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