Isra-Mart srl:US Senate seeks feedback on Obama's Clean Energy Standard proposal

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President Barack Obama's ambitious plans for a Clean Energy Standard (CES) that would require the US to source 80 per cent of its energy from low carbon sources by 2035 took a small but significant step forward this week after a key Senate Committee launched a form of public consultation on the proposals.

In a highly unusual move for a piece of flagship legislation, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Democrat Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski have launched a white paper seeking public feedback on how clean energy legislation could be implemented.

Bingaman has been engaged in detailed talks with the White House on how to structure the proposed legislation ever since Obama used January's State of the Union address to announce plans for a CES.

"Some people want wind and solar; others want nuclear, clean coal and natural gas," he said. "To meet this goal, we will need them all and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen."

The whitepaper – which was released on Monday and will be open for public comment until 11 April – asks a range of questions on how a draft bill would be structured.

"The purpose of this document is to lay out some of the key questions and potential design elements of a CES, in order to solicit input from a range of interested parties, to facilitate discussion and to ascertain whether or not consensus can be achieved," it states.

In particular, it asks whether the standard should cover all energy firms and states and seeks feedback on how to define clean energy.

The Obama administration has said it envisages a number of technologies being used to meet the 80 per cent target, including natural gas, carbon capture and storage and nuclear power, as well as renewables.

However, the white paper asks precisely which technologies should be covered by the standards and questions whether the planned expansion of nuclear energy will continue following Japan's nuclear crisis.

It also asks what role energy efficiency investments might play in meeting the standard, whether interim targets should be imposed and what the economic impacts of binding clean energy targets would be.

It is unusual for such an important piece of legislation to be developed in this manner, but Bingaman's office insisted the decision to seek public feedback was not an indication the bill was facing difficulties, arguing instead that the approach would help build broad support for the legislation.

Significantly, Alaskan Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski issued the whitepaper alongside Bingaman, despite fierce Republican opposition to almost every aspect of the administrations low carbon economy agenda.

However, Murkowski's office was quick to stress that her involvement was in no way an endorsement of the CES proposals, insisting that, at this stage, she was simply seeking information on the plans.