The U.S. Senate is taking baby steps in addressing energy use, and while the measures that are gaining traction there — with tentative support from the House — are not earth-shaking in their scope, they are instructive in their focus. The unifying theme of the measures is primarily efficiency, whether in how energy is produced or how it is consumed. A measure that originated with Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, and passed with broad bipartisan support in the House, would facilitate small hydropower projects in places where water already flows but is not put to use for energy purposes. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act last week, and the name notwithstanding (I mean, why not add “moms and apple pie” after “rural jobs”?), it is endemic of the sorts of bills that are palatable to a divided Congress: those that cross ideological lines and make economic and environmental sense for all involved. It is not world-changing, but it is incremental progress — and that says something in the current political climate.
The Senate panel is also advancing legislation that encourages energy efficiency in industrial buildings. It is hard to argue against such a notion and business owners of all political stripes stand to gain from making investments in efficiency. Doing so pays big in retained resources, and saves energy in the offing. What’s not to like?
These are far from the sweeping changes that are probably needed to adequately and immediately address the growing climate problem — marked last week when carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the first time reached 400 parts per million, a figure thought to signal a dramatic increase in warming — but they are nonetheless meaningful and, perhaps, are the only way to build momentum toward larger changes.
