New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is leading a charge to seek public input on how to compose a bill creating the White House’s national standard for generating more U.S. electricity from clean energy sources, Reuters reported.

Bingaman and his staff have been in discussion with the White House for almost two months on clean energy standard regulation, following President Barack Obama’s call to Congress in his State of the Union address that by 2035, 80 percent of U.S. electricity should be generated by clean energy sources.

Bingaman and the top Republican on the energy panel, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, issued a “white paper” on Monday seeking public comment on what the clean energy standard should look like.

Though Obama said he wanted to include nuclear power in the standard, Bingaman and Murkowski are asking what energy sources should qualify as clean energy, and if Japan’s nuclear crisis may affect growth in U.S. nuclear generating capacity.

In Iowa, a report earlier this month said that the state stands to gain almost 5,000 jobs and add more than $332 million to the economy by installing 300 megawatts of solar power generating capacity.