In a bid to settle the controversial debate of how a new streetcar network would be powered, yesterday the D.C. Council introduced legislation that would allow for overhead wires along H Street NE but keep a prohibition against them in place for other parts of the District’s historic core. Overhead wires in much of the District are prohibited by congressional statutes dating back to the late 1800s, but alternatives for powering streetcars are untested and considered unreliable. While historic preservationists oppose overhead wires, they seemed amenable to the compromise proposed by Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and supported by 11 of his colleagues. Whether the attempt gets past the courts is another question — there are legal debates over whether the D.C. Council can overrule a federal statute of this sort, though Wells claims that nothing in the city’s Home Rule Charter says it can’t. The only dissenting vote came from Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who has questioned the value of streetcars in the District. Greater Greater Washington has more details.