Good news and bad news on the energy front
Two fights in Congress over energy policy have produced good news and bad news. First, the good news:
Senators late Thursday rejected a proposal to allow limited natural gas development in waters off the mid-Atlantic coast despite a long-standing drilling moratorium.
A proposal to let Virginia seek a waiver to the drilling ban for a large portion of federal waters off its coast was defeated 43-44.
The environmental degradation from such drilling would in no way be balanced by the pittance of hydrocarbons ultimately recoverable from those offshore fields, so this is good news.
Now, the bad news:
Senate Democrats, eager for a vote on energy legislation, ran into staunch Republican resistance Thursday to requiring that utilities use more wind, solar and other renewable sources to produce electricity.
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The bill would require power companies to increase use of wind turbines, solar panels, biomass, geothermal energy or other renewable sources to produce at least 15 percent of their electricity by 2020. Only about 2.4 percent of the country's electricity is produced that way now.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the measure's chief sponsor, said the mandate is needed to stimulate expansion of fuel sources other than coal and natural gas. He said if his plan is enacted, greenhouse gas emissions from power plants will fall by nearly 7 percent from levels projected for 2020.
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Republicans balked and refused to allow a vote on Bingaman's measure.
The only way we are going to wean ourselves off Middle Eastern oil is to push the obstructionist Republicans aside. The only way we will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to force those out of office who live in the back pockets of the oil and coal industries. Enough is enough.