Sen. Lugar Proposes New Energy Bill With No Cap-and-Trade System

Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have introduced energy legislation that would promote energy efficiency, provide loan guarantees worth $54 billion for new nuclear construction, devise a national renewable energy standard wherein nuclear generation and CCS would be considered renewables and require setting motor vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, E&E News PM reported. Lugar was quoted as saying: "It is time to recast the debate in Congress and match priorities with a practical alternative."

According to Lugar, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the legislation would cut dependence on foreign oil by 40 percent and reduce emissions by more than 1.6 billion tons, UPI Energy reported, quoting Lugar as saying: "It targets our dangerous oil addiction by maximizing fuel savings in transportation and increasing domestic production of fossil and bio-based fuels."

Energy Secretary Steven Chu praised the Republican bill, called the Practical Energy and Climate Plan Act of 2010, for its emphasis on energy efficiency, but continued to push for a cap-and-trade system, Environment & Energy Daily reported. Chu was quoted as saying: "I continue to believe that to fully capitalize on these opportunities we need comprehensive legislation that puts a price on carbon and makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy."

Graham said Lugar's bill could possibly get 60 votes in the Senate because it did not cap emissions or expand offshore drilling, Bloomberg reported. The Union of Concerned Scientists criticized the proposal because it would "fail to cut global warming emissions to the level scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst of consequences of climate change," while Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, called it "amnesty for big polluters."