Roll Call Policy Briefing on Energy and Environment Features Input from Bingaman, Teague,

Capitol Hill's Roll Call today published an extensive policy briefing on energy and the environment that includes a piece by Senator Jeff Bingaman, Energy Bill to Tackle Key Issues, and an article by Congressman Harry Teague (NM-02), Energy Plan Must Push Variety of Technologies. Rep. Teague was the only freshman member of Congress invited to contribute to the briefing. Both are well worth a read.

As Rep. Teague says in his piece:

New Mexico is on the forefront of our nation’s energy future. We have it all — solar, wind, geothermal and biofuel production, as well as the oil and natural gas resources that have powered our state’s economy for decades.

... Solving our nation’s energy problems requires that everyone involved in the debate come to the table with an open mind and a willingness to make some tough but necessary choices. I spent 42 years in the oil and gas industry, but I still believe that expanding renewable energy production and utilization is the only way to overcome our nation’s long-term energy challenges. As an oilman and a proponent of renewable energy, I look forward to working with all producers of American energy to set the course for our energy independence.

Teague lays out four main issues his legislative proposals will address: expanding transmission, improving the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, promoting energy entrepreneurship and green job training.

Senator Bingaman, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, writes that progress is being made on a wide-ranging bill:

... By the end of this week, we will have held 13 hearings and the committee staff will have organized 30 staff briefings on the topics that would be included in such a bill.

While important work remains to be done on a number of topics that we believe should be incorporated into such a bill, enough progress has been made on others that the committee was able to start putting together a comprehensive energy bill before Members left for Easter. Ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and I have held our first markup and will continue with additional hearings and markups this month and next.

Bingaman summarizes the challenges ahead:

In developing a new energy bill, we plan to tackle several key challenges: deploying clean-energy technology; improving energy efficiency; maintaining adequate supplies of conventional fuels as we make the transition to newer forms of energy; increasing energy innovation; making energy markets more transparent; and maintaining the proper balance between energy and environment policies, especially as it relates to global warming.