The Renewable Electricity Standard Game Plan

Audrey Jones / October 02, 2010

This week, National Journal hosted an energy, environment, and economic policy summit on the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Participants included Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK) and Sam Brownback (R-KS); Dr. Robert Simon, the Majority Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; David Friedman, the Research Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists; and Phil Sharp, the President of Resources for the Future.

RES proponents acknowledged that the nation’s current double digit unemployment makes near term adoption of RES politically impossible, but they also outlined a long-term strategy: 1) personal relationships and deals with other Senators; 2) national security messaging; and 3) putting a figurative gun to the nation’s head in the form of the EPA. (more…)