Democrat blasts Republicans over blackout

Washington-AP

Democrats say this month's massive blackout shines a harsh light on Republican energy policies.

In his party's Saturday radio speech, New York Senator Charles Schumer blamed the power outage in the eastern U-S and Canada on an outdated and loosely regulated power system.Schumer says the Bush administration has been committed to "unfettered deregulation." But he insists Democrats won't let Republicans play "Russian roulette" with the nation's power supply.Congress is set to take a new look at an energy bill when it returns from recess, and Schumer says the measure should impose new standards for reliability, power transmission and grid performance.The senator also is calling for tax incentives so companies will improve power grids ---