New US Senate Energy Bill changes proposed renewable fuel standard from 36 billion gallons in 2022 to 18 billion gallons in 2016

In Washington, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced a new energy bill that would increase the renewable fuel standard to 18 billion gallons by 2016, compared to the 36 billion target for 2022 set in the Energy Bill passed by the Senate in July. The Senate and House have not been able to agree on an Energy Bill; the House version did not include a renewable fuel mandate.

In Washington, lawmakers have all but abandoned a conference to resolve differences between the Senate and House versions of the 2007 Energy Bill, focusing on new legislation to reconcile differences.

This month, Sen. Obama released the energy policy for his presidential campaign, which called for a cap-and-trade emissions policy and investment of $150 billion in new alternative energy technologies. Senator Obama proposed a 80% greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2050.

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