News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The U.S. Senate has approved a bill furthering cooperation with Israel in clean energy as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.  The U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation Act is due for approval by the House of Representatives later this week, and is expected to be signed into law by President George W. Bush.  The Energy Independence Act empowers the Secretary of Energy to establish grants to further research, development and implementation of technologies to produce and utilize renewable energy such as biofuel, biomass, wind, water, and geothermal power.

The new initiative was facilitated by the American Jewish Congress, which sponsored talks between scientists, engineers, academics, and company executives in Jerusalem in 2003, and subsequently lobbied for the project on Capitol Hill.