U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Nevada Republican Congressman Dean Heller introduced companion bills in the Senate and House of Representatives that would establish local and state revenue sharing for renewable energy projects located on federal lands.
Reid also introduced a bill that aims to encourage additional development of geothermal energy resources in Nevada and throughout the West.
The Clean Energy, Community Investment, and Wildlife Conservation Act
establishes a competitive leasing pilot program for solar and wind
energy projects that could serve as the basis for a national
leasing program on federal lands.
The bill directs the
Secretary of Interior to establish royalties for solar and wind
electricity generation on public lands. Counties and states would each
receive 25% of the revenues collected by the federal government
from these clean energy projects.
Additionally this bill would set
aside a major share of wind and solar revenues for fish and wildlife
conservation for providing access to public lands, and for processing
renewable energy applications. Reid was joined by Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in introducing this bill in the Senate, and Heller introduced it
in the House.
Reid’s Geothermal Exploration Act is an investment bill that would promote the development of geothermal energy resources in the U.S.
by assisting with the high up-front costs of exploration and drilling
for geothermal resources. It establishes a fund from which the
Secretary of Energy can provide loans to geothermal energy developers
for high-risk exploration and drilling. Reid was joined by Senators
Tester, Mark Udall (D-CO) and Jeff Merkley, (D-OR) in introducing the bill.
In Related News…
On Tuesday, Reid confirmed that he will bring an energy bill to the Senate floor this month that has four parts: an oil spill response; a clean-energy and job-creation title based on work done in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; a tax package from the Senate Finance Committee; and a section that deals with greenhouse gas emissions from the electric utility industry.
Read Politico coverage at the link below.
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