"Senate Begins Debate on Comprehensive Bipartisan Energy Bill"

"WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday started debating its first comprehensive energy legislation since the George W. Bush administration, a bipartisan measure meant to update the nation’s power grid and oil and gas transportation systems to address major changes in the ways that power is now produced in the United States.

Since passage of the last major energy law, in 2007, the United States has gone from fears of oil and gas shortages to becoming the world’s leading producer of both fuels. The use of wind and solar power is rapidly accelerating as those sources become cheaper than fossil fuels in some parts of the country. And President Obama’s clean air regulations are reshaping the nation’s power systems, as electric utilities shutter coal-fired power plants and replace them with alternative sources.

But the nation’s energy infrastructure has not kept pace with those changes."

Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times January 27, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Senate Dives Into Bipartisan Package" (E&E Daily)

"Flint Water Crisis A Focus As Senate Takes Up Energy Bill" (AP)