US Senate drops key measures in energy bill

The US Senate has abandoned plans to include a carbon cap and a base level for renewable energy generation in the energy bill brought by Democrat senators Joe Lieberman and John Kerry.

Renewable energy groups are up in arms about the failure of these key measures. The development is also seen as a political blow to President Barak Obama.

"A bipartisan bill with a national renewable electricity standard (RES) passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee over a year ago. It is beyond comprehension that we are now hearing that the bill may never be brought to the Senate floor,” said Denise Bode, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association.

“A refusal to pass an RES is an attack on every American worker and consumer,” she added. “Not passing an RES endangers at least 360,000 jobs: 85,000 currently employed in the wind industry and the potential 274,000 additional jobs created by an RES. Workers, families and our country demand a new energy future. That future must emphasize new strategies that embrace clean, renewable sources of energy that reduce costs, create jobs and enhance our national security.”

No Republican senators have backed the bill which they label as an energy tax. The bill requires a 60 per cent majority to pass. The Democrats hold 57 of the 100-seat chamber and can count on two independents. Some Democrat senators have wavered in their support and two in coal-producing Virginia are in open opposition.

Even an effort to reduce the application of the law to electricity utilities only has failed to win further support.

Publicly Lieberman and Kerry remain confident that carbon cap-and-trade legislation will be passed eventually. The bill may be reintroduced in September, after the Senate's August recess, but it is unlikely that Lieberman and Kerry can garner additional support.

The Democrats are expected to lose seats in elections due in November.