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Klobuchar pushes renewable power, biofuels measures ahead of energy debate
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is introducing legislation to expand use of renewable electricity and transportation fuels that she says is a way to increase political support for broad energy legislation among farm-state lawmakers.
“When you look at what is going on with the oil spill right now, it is time to look at home-grown energy and that includes biofuels and they should be part of this,” she told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday.
“When you look at getting support for an energy bill, bringing in Midwestern senators and people that care not just about renewable electricity but also about biofuels, [it] is going to get some support that isn’t there right now for an energy bill,” added Klobuchar.
Klobuchar and Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). plan to introduce the bill Tuesday. Biofuels like ethanol are popular among farm-state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Klobuchar said the plan would include expanded tax credits for biofuels.
It also includes a renewable electricity standard — which requires utilities to supply escalating amounts of power over time from sources like wind and solar energy — that is tougher than legislation the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved last year.
Environmentalists and other renewable energy advocates — including Klobuchar — say a more aggressive standard is needed. “The bill that came out of that committee just did not get to the point where we need to go,” she told reporters Tuesday.
However, renewable power mandates face significant resistance, and the Energy Committee plan was already a delicate compromise.
The Energy Committee’s renewable electricity plan was part of a much broader energy package that the panel approved in June of 2009 with several GOP votes.
That bill — a mix of measures on alternative energy, efficiency, transmission and other areas — is expected to help form the basis for the energy bill that Senate Democratic leaders hope to bring to the floor in coming weeks.
But Klobuchar said she was hopeful that her bill would be included, or could be added as an amendment.
