I wrote a piece over a month ago on the possibility of getting a nationwide renewable energy standard (RES) passed despite the demise of comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation in the Senate. Since then, though, I thought the possibility of getting an RES through an almost nonfunctional Senate sort of faded into oblivion. Apparently not, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Reid, who had said just before the Senate’s August recess that he doubted an RES could get 60 votes, said last Tuesday that an RES “is ‘absolutely’ in the mix as he tries to salvage energy legislation this year,” The Hill’s Energy & Environment Blog, E-2 Wire, reports.
Reid did not name the two Senators, but he said that two Republicans have expressed interest in an RES and he is going to follow up on that with them soon. “I am going to tie them down a little more closely,” Reid said on a conference call last week.
According to Reid, he plans to work on energy legislation until the final hour, if necessary, and he is hopeful that something can be accomplished. “We are going to continue working on this. You won’t hear the last of us until we adjourn sine die,” Reid commented.
Of course, with any sign of energy evolution in the US, people who probably would have stopped the first house from being hooked up to electricity if they had been born in that time period start acting as if a democratic process that doesn’t go in their favor is tyranny. The comments on the E-2 Wire remind me of the absurd comments I see on this blog and others I write for all the time. Tim Hurst of ecopolitology has an interesting post on this topic and on the E-2 Wire blog, in particular, (which is actually where I originally found out about Reid’s most recent statements on a potential nationwide RES).
It is great to see an RES may still be a possibility. It is as sad as ever that people don’t understand how that is a good thing for people, their health, the economy, and the environment.
Photo Credit: Center for American Progress Action Fund via flickr
About Zachary Shahan
