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WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s proposal to use federal eminent domain to establish green-power transmission lines was met with pushback today from senators who questioned giving the feds so much authority as well as requiring the lines to carry mostly renewable energy.
Reid testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about the bill, which would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to use eminent domain, if necessary, to develop transmission lines across the nation. Reid’s bill would use federal authority as a backstop if regional entities cannot develop plans to locate the lines.
“There will come a day when our children and grandchildren look back on this moment in history,” Reid testified, comparing it to past eras when the federal government stepped in to help build the railroads and the highway system.
The nation is sorely lacking in transmission line capacity to connect solar, wind and other renewable energy sources that are located in the Nevada desert and other remote regions to population centers. “The point of this legislation is to break the logjam,” Reid said.
But Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the panel, said she was “concerned about giving FERC a job that the states, working collaboratively, could do better.”
Murkowski and Sen. John McCain, the Republican from Arizona, also opposed limiting new lines to carrying mostly renewable energy sources.
“I notice by its absence nuclear power is not part of that,” said McCain, a longtime backer of nuclear energy and the waste dump at Yucca Mountain.
“We shouldn’t restrict access to our transmission lines to one form of energy over another,” Murkowski said.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon also expressed skepticism at giving the federal commission authority over state plans.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, has also drafted a transmission line bill. Reid said the two are “is just a beginning” of the discussion.
Reid’s legislation is expected to be rolled into a larger energy and climate change bill coming from the House.
The majority leader also sparked controversy when he said was willing to use upcoming votes in Congress on President Barack Obama’s budget as a vehicle to move the energy bill.
The budget process only requires a simple majority for passage, rather than the usual 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles in the Senate.
“Certainly that’s an alternative,” Reid told reporters outside the committee. “I love 51 compared to 60.”
Murkowski shot back that she would “strongly disagree to an end-run around Congress” and encouraged Reid and Obama to work with dissenters.
The US is so far behind the rest of the industrialized world in energy, pollution reduction, standard of living, universal health care, etc.
We need a national energy grid. Period. No questions. No NIMBY factor. No more delays. We have spent 8 years, ignoring global problems that the US is the main cause.
Why do other people hate the US? Well, we are the biggest polluter, the largest weapons manufacturer, the largest weapons exporter, ignorer of the Geneva convention, etc. etc.
If we want people to respect the US, they should not due to fear of military occupation or destruction but because of respect for an environmentally non polluting, people respecting, energy conserving, do it right country.
NOT our long history of greed and exploitation.
Time for america to grow up and stop acting like a spoiled child.
Bob, since you hate the US so much how about you move. I could write page after page debunking the garbage you wrote, but that would be a waste of my time.
You voted for Obama (if you are a citizen and not just euro-trash) so your socialist dream is about to come true.
Mr. Reid is about 75 years, at least, behind the times. N. Tesla's inventions included transmitting electricity wirelessly (which inventions were bought and kept hidden by the copper cartel ?)
Nowdays, my understanding is that small (smaller than a sedan vehicle) made-in-USA nuclear-powered electric generating units are being used in some villages in rural Africa and elsewhere, supplying reliable sources of inexpensive electricity without the need for long-distance transmission lines, which, as most know (1) are notoriasly in-efficient at what they are intended for, and (2) radiate an EMF (electro magnetic field) injurious to mammels and other life forms. Any honest scientist (e.g. one not on the US government payroll) in this area of engineering , etc. likely could bring a bright, but very poorly informed, individual up-to-speed in something onder a week. Certainly an alternative to check out BEFORE HE SPENDS ANY MORE OF OUR TAXPAYER MONEY ! Note: The requirements of electricity for a village there, I understand, are about the same requirements needed for several city blocks.
Your right Reid one day our grand children and great grand children will look back and be very thankful that we stopped the Marxist government of obam, Reid and peloski in 2010 and they still have Freedom. Liberty and Life.
Yeah, Reid is committing political suicide. We have property that would have to be stolen by the Feds for one of these power line proposals. We will fight it to the end. We love our back yard and we laugh when idiots try to call us NIMBY. I garuntee that those NIMBY name calling nimrods would be nimbys themselves if it were their home.
Here's to Reid having to retire in 2010. Let's hope that reject gets whet he deserves.Reid's plan is not about clean energy. All of his proposed wind farms and solar boondoggles have a big base load of natural gas. Reid gas no idea how advanced the roof top soalr technology has become and or does not want anything to disrupt his plan to make us pay big prices for our energy.
Don't these people understand. They don't need to vote or get state permission. Nancy and Barry told harry to pass this so he has too.