Energy Concerns Taking a Step Forward in Senate

A major energy summit wrapped up in Washington, D.C. on February 23, in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(D-NV) stated he would be introducing a bill on the Senate floor this week, with the aim of the bill being the expansion of the nation's electric transmission system.

The bill is designed to give President Obama the authority to create areas where the nation's electric power grid can be expanded into places where renewable resources are found. Typically, renewable resources such as solar, wind, and geothermal are not easily accessible, and are in fact the number one problem with their use.

And so we focus on the intended effort: it is going to take a lot of money to create an entire new portion of the electric grid that is capable of harvesting the energy from thousands of wind turbines, acres of solar panels, and miles of underground geothermal piping, and transmit it cleanly to your light switch or groovy new electric car. Senator Reid's bill would allow the government to force the development of the required new sections of the electric grid, in short, to build infrastructure.

So now Washington, D.C. is facing a test about how serious the American people are about change. The Obama Administration campaigned on a platform of change, and won. But real change requires real effort, and with effort from people like T. Boone Pickens, an oil man with a wind energy plan, government is responding to pressure from businesses and people alike who are asking for relief from dependence on foreign oil and a hurting economy. Harry Reid's Renewable Energy Bill is a result of this pressure.

Since the bill to expand the electric grid is only just now being submitted to the Senate floor, look for continuing reports on the progress of the bill through committee, Congress, and to the President's desk.

Sources for this article:

1. http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/pr_022309_cleanenergyproject.cfm
2. http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/