Congressional Dems Differ on Combining RES and Cap-and-Trade

Senate and House Democrats haven't reached agreement on whether a federal Renewable Energy Standard (RES) and cap-and-trade system should be combined in a single bill. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Waxman (D-CA) said he would be interested in merging the measures for a vote before Memorial Day. Sen. Bingaman (D-NM), on the other hand, wants RES to be voted on early this year, followed by climate legislation at a later date. President Obama supports both measures, but would like to at least sign an RES into law by this summer. In a Senate hearing last week, Sen. Murkowski (R-AL) questioned whether RES and cap-and-trade amounted to conflicting goals. "Is our aim to simply increase renewable energy production, or is the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?" Read more at E&E (sub'd req.)