Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet introduced an amendment today to the Senate budget resolution that expresses support for the creation of a Department of Energy program giving competitive grants to states that implement a variety of clean energy improvements.

The amendment, which is modeled after Bennet’s Clean Energy Race to the Top Act he introduced last week, would support authorization by the Appropriations Committees to allocate resources toward a competitive grant program as long as it is does not add to the deficit.

“In the absence of any coherent federal energy policy, states like Colorado are leading the way when it comes to energy efficiency and renewable energy,” Bennet said. “This amendment would give Congress the flexibility to establish a competitive grant program to help forward-looking states like Colorado deploy these innovative technologies being developed in our backyards.”

Bennet originally introduced the Clean Energy Race to the Top Act in 2010. The concept for a Race to the Top program at DOE was outlined in President Obama’s most recent State of the Union Address, and Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm renewed momentum for the idea at this year’s “All Stars” event held by the U.S. Department of Energy in January.