I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The energy bill written by U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today on a 15-8 vote, with four Republicans voting for the measure and two Democrats voting against it. Bingaman, a Democrat and New Mexico’s senior senator, is the chairman of the committee.
Bingaman called the bill a compromise.
“None of us approve of every provision, none of us got everything that we wanted,” Bingaman said, according to the New York Times. “The end product, I believe, is a solid piece of work. It is one which will help not only to enable us to produce new sources of energy, but to use our energy sources wisely and more efficiently.”
Bingaman offers a summary of the bill (pdf) on his Web site.
So what would the bill, as currently crafted, do? Again from the New York Times:
The bill’s major provisions would, among other things, impose a national renewable electricity standard, overhaul federal financing for “clean energy” projects, establish a suite of efficiency measures, mandate new federal electricity-transmission siting power, and allow wider oil and gas leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
In a statement, Bingaman said, “This bill will help shift our country to cleaner sources of energy, and more secure sources as well. The bipartisan, substantive and forward-looking approaches to energy found in this bill will move America toward the clean jobs and economic growth we need.”
The bill also includes a Renewable Energy Standard (RES), which would require that 15 percent of power nationwide be derived from renewable sources by 2021.
Some say the bill isn’t strong enough. According to Reuters, Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said, “This is an extremely weak bill, the only reason I’m voting for it is to see that we can strengthen it on the floor.”
The Sierra Club opposes the bill because of concerns about the RES and liquid coal provisions in the bill.
The Sierra Club says they will look for improvements when it is heard on the House floor.
“We look forward to offering our support to a final bill that achieves these critical goals and lives up to its title,” Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said in a statement.
Meanwhile, oil and gas industry advocates were optimistic about the bill.
“The committee took a positive step forward by passing this bill which recognizes the importance of additional offshore oil and natural gas development and Canadian oil to our nation’s energy and economic security,” American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said in a statement. “The majority of Americans favor greater offshore development, and they recognize this development means more jobs, more government revenues and more domestic energy supplies.”
