Summer Recess Puts Energy Bill on Fast-Track

Congress is set to recess for the month of August, and the looming date has both chambers working double-time. The Energy Bill (HR 6) is six years in the making and is tentatively set for a vote in the House on Thursday and the Senate on Friday. On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released the conference report on the energy bill (pdf, 1724 pages) ... which committee members passed Monday on an incredible fast-track between introduction and committee vote. Raise your hand if you really think that your Senators and Representative have read (much less analyzed or understood) the entire piece of legislation?

Nothing in the bill will address today's record gasoline prices ($2.33 a gallon, two weeks ago), according to Department of Energy. Here are some summary points from news reports:

• Fiscal impact: grants tax breaks and incentives of $14.5 billion over the next 10 years, with nearly $9 billion earmarked for oil and gas production, electricity reliability, and coal pollution.
• Slows down the U.S. government review of a proposed bid for American-oil giant Unocal by Chinese-government owned CNOOC Ltd.
• Changes Daylight Savings Time: in 2007, DST will start the second Sunday in March (formerly first Sunday in April) and will end the first Sunday in November (instead of the last Sunday in October).
• Eliminates Senate bill language which required improved automotive fleet mileage or other ways to reduce oil demand. However, includes tax credits for hybrid or fuel cell vehicle purchase.
• Drops language to open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to drilling; prohibits oil drilling in the Great Lakes.
• Drops language that would have required U.S. utilities to generate 10 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
• Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which prevents some utility mergers; the Act was passed during the Depression.
• Allocates $1.3 billion for an experimental nuclear reactor in Idaho; it would also produce hydrogen fuel.
• Doubles (almost) the amount of ethanol used as an additive by 2012 (good for mid-western corn producers).
• Expands federal powers (at the expense of state power) by granting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exclusive authority to approve liquefied natural gas terminals, even if states have environmental or safety concerns.
• In a slight nod to concerns about global warning, the bill promotes technologies that reduce greenhouse gases; however, there are no specific cuts or goals for U.S. CO2 emissions.

Tags: Energy, Politics
See London Guardian, Reuters, Seattle Times