Reid Revives Hope For Renewable Energy Standard

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he may include a renewable electricity mandate in legislation that would impose new safety regulations on offshore drilling, reviving a requirement jettisoned from a broader energy bill earlier this summer.

Reid said adding a renewable electricity provision to a narrow energy measure that would overhaul federal oversight of the outer continental shelf and boost production of natural gas and electric-powered vehicles (S 3663) could attract the support of two Republicans.

The proposal stalled in the Senate before the August recess in the face of blanket Republican opposition and significant policy differences among Democrats.