The U.S. Senate is crafting energy legislation that’s far more worthwhile than the retrograde bill that sailed through the House in April.
The Senate proposal could actually help wean America from imported oil in the long term. And it doesn’t sidestep such environmental concerns as global warming.
Whether any energy legislation actually makes it into law remains an open question. Four years ago, President Bush said – as he does today – that enacting energy legislation was a priority. In each of the past two years, the Senate passed an energy bill, only to see it die in conference committee from an overdose of opposition from members of the House.
This energy bill also could die: The House leadership has been insisting that makers of the fuel additive MTBE be shielded from lawsuits while the Senate refuses to include liability protection in its proposal.
Still, perhaps the third time will be the charm and some sensible legislation can be enacted. If it is, the measure should be based on the Senate bill.
Comparing the two bills
The House measure is filled with federal giveaways to the oil and gas industries – mature businesses that don’t need a taxpayer handout. Worse, the House bill contains massive environmental rollbacks.
By contrast, the Senate last week adopted several key provisions of the energy package. Floor debate on the overall measure is expected to continue this week.
The Senate wants utilities to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewable-energy sources such as wind and solar by 2020. Colorado’s senators split on this issue, with Democrat Ken Salazar voting (indeed pushing) for it, and Wayne Allard voting no. The proposed national requirement would be lower or slower than what some states have enacted. Colorado, for example, requires utilities to obtain 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2015, while Maine is requiring the utilities to get 30 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2011.
Still, the plan would boost renewable-energy use in this country far beyond the approximately 2 percent such sources currently provide. We can’t imagine why Allard would oppose a measure that is so obviously consistent with the measure approved by Colorado voters last November.
Importantly, the Senate wants to extend tax credits for wind-energy producers. Senators also have proposed a trading program in renewable-energy credits, which could help utilities obtain renewable energy even if weather or geography prevent them from generating much solar or wind power themselves.
The government needs to jump-start such promising technologies. A plan championed by Salazar, for example, would create loan guarantees for coal-gasification plants, projects that could someday produce cleaner energy from one of the nation’s most plentiful but dirtiest fuels. Salazar also backed research into how to make ethanol, a fuel additive and potential gasoline substitute, from farm wastes.
White House stuck in past
The White House remains stuck in the past century on such matters, though, stoutly opposing the Senate’s support of alternative energy sources. The Office of Management and Budget has complained about the cost of the Senate tax credits, yet the Bush administration didn’t whine when the House offered huge giveaways to the oil and gas industry.
The Senate measure further seeks long- term progress by setting a national efficiency standard for a host of appliances not covered under existing law. The Colorado legislature passed a similar measure this year, but Gov. Bill Owens vetoed it. Appliance manufacturers didn’t oppose the Colorado bill because they already make such devices for the California market.
Both the House and Senate measures would extend existing liability protections for the nuclear industry.
But neither would close a glaring gap in American energy policy: Congress hasn’t required car manufacturers to improve average automobile fuel economy since 1985. It should.
Western senators deserve credit
The Senate crafted a more sensible energy bill thanks largely to the leadership of key Westerners. Special credit should go to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that largely wrote the Senate bill – and to the two New Mexicans who lead the panel, Republican Chairman Pete Domenici and ranking Democrat Jeff Bingaman. In addition, Salazar, who also serves on the committee, took on an unusually active role for a freshman.
In the process, the committee executed an idea that seems all too alien to the House. It’s called bipartisanship.
