The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released a March 2011 white paper on a clean energy standard, a topic that had been under discussion for many months following the failure of Congress to move forward with a renewable electricity standard in 2009 or 2010. A clean energy standard would mandate that a percentage of America's electricity be produced utilizing "clean" resources, which would go beyond a renewable electricity standard, with its focus on wind and solar resources. The white paper invited comment on several dozen policy issues associated with crafting a clean energy standard. AGA submitted comments on April 11, 2011, urging that any clean energy standrard include natural gas, that energy efficiency be included as a compliance path in any standard, and that policy makers recognize the even cleaner path of encouraging the direct use of natural gas.