Editorial: Berkley’s bill has merit

Monday, June 5, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.

During a visit to Hyde Park Middle School last week while Congress was in recess, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., announced her plan to move the country ahead in regard to renewable energy. She chose the location of her announcement well - the school has its own windmill and solar energy grid.

Her plan, encompassed in a bill she will soon introduce, would lead to the day when 20 percent of the nation's power comes from renewable sources. If hydropower, which is not always reliable but produces 7 percent of the nation's energy, is discounted, renewable sources provide only 2 percent of the nation's energy today.

She would accomplish the 20 percent standard by requiring the federal government to purchase more of its energy from renewable sources. Also, her bill proposes renewable energy grants for school districts. Additionally, she would extend all current tax incentives for renewable energy industries and even add one for producers of wind energy.

Unlike the Bush administration, Berkley does not define nuclear energy as renewable. In fact, her bill would end the subsidies going to the highly profitable nuclear and fossil-fuel industries.

Her bill would also require cars to average 33 miles to the gallon by 2015, as opposed to the 27 mpg required today.

We believe her bill deserves a hearing. It is certainly more farsighted than the energy bill Congress passed last year, which was inspired by Vice President Dick Cheney and his allies in the oil, gas and nuclear industries.