Senator lampoons wind power, hopes for drilling offshore Florida
Washington (Platts)--10May2005
A senior Republican senator on Tuesday blasted wind power's potential in the US and said he hoped Florida eventually would allow natural gas drilling off its Gulf of Mexico coast. Speaking to reporters about energy legislation under development, Sen Lamar Alexander (Republican-Tennessee) said a number of longstanding issues continue to vex the Senate: electricity, whether to address fuel economy standards or set a renewable energy requirement, and how to address carbon dioxide emissions. Alexander said he expected a forthcoming Senate bill, which could begin to be debated in committee later this month, will include incentives for hybrid vehicles, continued help for renewable sources and money for carbon sequestration research and development, as well as loan guarantees for coal gasification and nuclear power plants. Alexander also said he hoped the Senate would adopt his proposal to allow gas leasing in offshore areas, including Florida, where drilling is prohibited. But Alexander was most forceful in talking about wind power, saying wind farms need an expensive tax credit and massive amounts of land to generate a "puny" supply of electricity. Congress is expected to renew an existing 1.8 ct/KWh renewable production tax credit in an energy bill. "We need a national energy policy, not a national windmill policy," he said, maintaining that "everybody is mouthing renewable energy and wind" without thinking of their impacts. This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert http://www.electricityalert.platts.com
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