renewables in energy bill???

[mopinko]

is there any mention of renewables in the so-called energy bill?? i presume they put some kind of little fig leaf in there, but would like to know the facts.

[Dudley_DUright]

1. Only significant mention is to strip out any previously good stuff

in the conference committee. Here is a good summary from the Union of Concerned Scientists website:

<snip>

The electricity title not only fails to establish a renewable electricity standard (also known as a renewable portfolio standard), but repeals the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act, the only federal law requiring utilities to buy renewable energy when it is cheaper than alternatives. The renewable standard, which was included by the Senate in the conference report but then stripped by House conferees, would have required major electric companies to gradually increase sales of electricity from wind, solar, and other renewable sources from two percent today to about 10 percent by 2020.

"The energy bill funnels billions of dollars in taxpayer money to polluting industries while ignoring practical solutions such as a renewable standard, which 53 senators supported to ensure an increase in clean renewable energy generation," said Alan Nogee, director of UCS's Clean Energy Program. "The only thing more brazen about this is that the White House and the bill's sponsors have tried to spin it as a pro-renewables bill."

The legislation would also increase our oil dependence in a number of ways: the bill fails to adopt the 99-1 Senate-passed provision requiring the president to reduce oil consumption; it fails to close a tax loophole that allows $100,000 deductions for SUVs; and it goes backward on automobile fuel economy standards by allowing automakers to receive credit toward meeting these standards by selling dual-fuel vehicles that have the capability of running on alternative fuel but almost always run on gasoline.

more...

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm?newsID=367