Dems peddle energy bill despite impasse

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) peddled a Democratic energy bill in her party's radio address Saturday despite the bill stalling over a dispute on renewable energy this week.

"By improving energy efficiency, our bill can save Americans billions of dollars every year," the senator said. The Democrats' plan, she added, would "eliminate billions of dollars in tax breaks to big oil interests and invest them instead in clean, renewable energy. Combined with our goal to produce at least 15 percent of our energy from alternative sources, we can make huge strides in reducing our dependence on fossil fuel."

The bill, which was once dubbed as a bipartisan effort, came to a standstill this week when Republicans and Democrats clashed over renewable energy. Democrats are pushing for $13.7 billion in tax breaks to energy companies that invest in renewable energy, a proposal that was met with Republican resistance.

Republicans also said that they would not support a bill including Sen. Jeff Bingaman's (D-N.M.) amendment that would mandate utility companies to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. With only 2.4 percent of the country's electricity currently coming from renewable sources, Republicans argue Bingaman's plan would unfairly raise the cost of electricity in areas of the country where electricity could not easily be generated from wind turbines and other renewable sources.

Nevertheless, Cantwell remained optimistic about the bill saying "Congress should stare down special interests in Washington, D.C. and take our energy policy in a new direction."

"Our energy crisis will not be solved over night," she added, "but this Democratic plan is an important step. If you want a new direction in America's energy policy, call Congress, call the President, and tell them to support this new, clean-energy direction."