WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate's energy panel said on Monday he could support including nuclear power in the White House's clean energy standard for generating electricity as long as renewable energy benefited.
In his State of the Union speech to Congress last week, President Barack Obama proposed that the United States produce 80 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources, such as wind, solar, "clean" coal and nuclear, by 2035.
"If we can develop a workable clean energy standard that actually continues to provide an incentive for renewable energy projects to move forward, and provide an additional incentive for some of the other clean energy technologies, nuclear being one, I would like to see that happen," Senator Jeff Bingaman told reporters.
Bingaman said he has been in discussions with the White House over the last week on how to come up with a legislative proposal that would win bipartisan support in the Senate.
"I'm approaching the issue with a willingness and to work on trying to come up with a way to achieve what the president set out," he said.
Bingaman said he did not know when a formal bill would be ready to be introduced.
The president's help will be needed to pass clean energy legislation and the White House will have to take a more active role than it did with the failed climate change bill, Bingaman said.
"I think clearly the White House needs to be involved," he said.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett; editing by Jim Marshall)
