The U.S. Senate majority leader, who also represents a leading geothermal energy state, addressed a geothermal finance forum in New York. He offered the expected endorsement of the president's full agenda of climate, energy and green jobs legislation, but acknowledged the difficulty of energy bills with a climate component.
The U.S. Senate majority leader on Thursday endorsed the Obama energy and climate agenda before an audience that would have expected nothing less. But he seemed to offer tepid hopes for the controversial climate sections in an energy bill in a very crowded session. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) addressed the Geothermal Energy Association Geothermal Energy Finance Forum 2010 in New York City on Thursday before about 240 attendees.
He supports a comprehensive bill, but admits "we have a lot on our plate" like health care and financial reform. "We cannot be so busy that we can't address a comprehensive energy and climate legislation." Perhaps he acknowledged the reality that almost no Republicans support climate legislation, while any major bill would require 60 votes in the Senate. There's even a test run next week when the Senate considers an amendment on an unrelated bill to overrule EPA restrictions on carbon emission.
Reid said the Obama policies boosted all renewables in the past year. "Without the recovery act, geothermal growth would have been zero," he said. And the agenda continues many of those policies in pending legislation:
Extension of continued tax credits, encouraging a transmission build-out, a national renewables mandate, less dependence on foreign oil, coal-generated electricity, and policies that would unleash private investment.
Reid comes from a state that is high in geothermal energy resources - Reid dubbed it the Saudi Arabia of geothermal - with 450 megawatts already installed. With proper support, the state could have another 64 projects representing 2,500 additional megawatts in five years. He said renewable energy has been a lifelong avocation and even spoke fondly of his days as a young city attorney in remote Nevada, wondering what the steam coming from out of the ground meant. Over his career, he said he continued to promote its development, and this year, he has the chance to keep the industry moving ahead.
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