This is an excerpt from Ecoseed.org – The recently-approved United States Congress and White House budget contains a provision that effectively blocks the Department of Energy from implementing a set of rules that require light bulbs to be more energy efficient starting January 1, a Democratic senator said late last week.
The senator, committee on energy and natural resources chairman Jeff Bingaman, is the chief author of the 2007 law that requires the light bulb efficiency standards to take effect in 2012.
The approved budget provides $25.75 billion for D.O.E., higher than what the House and Senate passed this summer; $10.32 billion for the Department of the Interior, a roughly $310 million cut from current spending but more than $400 million higher than the House’s summer spending proposal; and $8.46 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a $240 million reduction from the current enacted level and a $333 million drop below President Barack Obama’s budget request.
“If America is to have a rational energy policy, we need to make progress in efficiency. Blocking funds to enforce minimum standards works against our nation getting the full benefits of energy efficiency,” Mr. Bingaman said.
Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee filed a bill that seeks to propagate hydropower production in the U.S.
House Resolution 3680 or the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2011, authored by Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Republican of Washington) and Diana DeGette (Democrat of Colorado) seeks to provide for hydropower generation in non-powered dams, promote hydropower projects by granting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to extend preliminary permit terms of such projects, and improve the regulatory process by reducing delays and costs for hydropower development.
For more – click HERE
