Kudos Senator Bingaman

"Utilities would have to generate at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources under a measure the Senate approved Thursday."

Granted, 10% isn't as much as some Scandinavian countries, but it's huge given that parts of our vast country are at 0% and would remain that way for the forseeable future. Nonetheless, there were some detractors:

"Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said he opposed the measure because 'a lot of the subsidies will support very popular programs' that, he argued, could be developed without government help."

I think I've heard somewhere that burning coal is kind of a popular way to generate electricity. However, it's also a new technology that might need some government nurturing because it's only been around for about 125 years now. Funny thing is, though, I haven't heard Sen. Kyl object to the coal industry subsidies in the energy legislation. He must have just forgotten to mention it.