U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is working with the Obama Administration to develop a proposal for an energy standard that would require 80% of the nations power to come from clean energy sources–as stated by the President in his State of the Union Address.
Bingaman, who is chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has been one of the strongest supporters for a federal Renewable Energy Standard (RES) over the past two years–insisting that nuclear and natural gas had no place in such a standard.
But according to The Hill, he apparently has decided–like the White House–that a compromise energy bill is better than none at all. However, he said finding bipartisan support still won’t be easy, even if Democrats are willing to play ball on nuclear and natural gas.
There will be deep disagreements over the design of such a standard–setting percentage levels for different energy sources, dealing with existing sources, etc. Bingaman said Republicans are already questioning the proposal and drawing comparisons to cap-and-trade legislation.
Moves to Permanently Block Greenhouse Gas Regulations
11 Republican senators, led by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), introduced a bill Monday that would permanently block the Environmental Protection Agency and from regulating greenhouse gases without explicit approval by Congress.
It would also prevent the federal government from taking greenhouse gas emissions into account when implementing laws such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
And, in case states want to take action, it would also preempt state climate actions.
This is part of a broad, coordinated pro-polluter legislative assault to weaken America’s clean air standards and block climate action.
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has also introduced a separate clean air attack that would halt critical EPA actions on carbon pollution for at least two years.
NOAA and NASA, the two government agencies responsible for monitoring global temperature trends, both reported that 2010 officially tied 2005 as the warmest year on record.
2010 was also, according to NOAA, the wettest year on record. Climate models predict that warmer global temperatures will increase precipitation as warmer air produces more atmospheric moisture.
Sure enough, last month the east coast of Australia experienced what’s been called "Biblical" flooding – an area the size of Germany and France combined was ravaged by rising flood waters following torrential rains. Record flooding in Brazil last month took the lives of at least 665 people. And in Sri Lanka, the worst flooding there in years left up to 400,000 children without enough food.
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I am against any compromise on adding nuclear or coal to “clean” energy legislation. It is not clean if it contains nuclear or coal. Of course I am against the Republican bills to block the EPA and other federal agencies from taking action to prevent greenhouse gas emissions by the sources of such emissions in our country. These emissions must be regulated if we are to meet our global obligations to reduce such emissions.