Washington – Congress today is set to pass a sweeping energy bill intended to boost domestic production amid a boom in oil and gas drilling across the West.
The legislation passed the House 275-156 Thursday and is expected to be voted on today by the Senate. It contains $14.5 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas drillers, coal companies and nuclear plants, along with breaks for renewable energy and conservation.
It also will streamline permitting for gas wells on public land in the West and accelerate development of oil shale in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
Nationally, it will extend daylight-saving time, set new standards for electric utilities, and order an inventory of oil and gas resources in coastal areas, which some see as a first step toward drilling in areas currently off-limits.
What it won’t do, critics and supporters agree, is lower gasoline prices. Critics say it simply pads the profits of petroleum companies, while supporters say it makes a long-term investment in more stable prices.
President Bush has been pushing for broad energy legislation almost since he took office, and White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday that Bush will sign the bill.
“We have waited on an energy plan for more than a decade. It has been far too long for the American people,” McClellan said.
The bill got the support of Colorado’s Republican House members, along with Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa.
“We’ve been long overdue for a solution to lowering our energy costs,” Salazar said.
Other Democrats were less supportive.
“This bill fails to reduce our reliance on foreign oil or sufficiently fund the renewable energy we will need for our future,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver.
Colorado’s two senators were both expected to vote for the bill, based on their statements and comments by aides.
Environmental and taxpayer groups say the legislation can’t boost domestic production because companies are already at full capacity and raking in huge profits.
“With record prices, the industry doesn’t need a dime of taxpayer money,” said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “In the past, we’ve softened the bust cycle. Now were guaranteeing the boom cycle.”
But producers say the breaks bring stability that will be needed when the current boom subsides.
Lee Fuller of the Independent Petroleum Association of America noted that several tax breaks, such as one for hard-to-reach “deep gas,” were stripped out of the final version of the bill because of budget constraints.
“Our money goes back to producing more domestic resources,” Fuller said. “This is a way to get more capital into the process.”
Natural gas production is already surging in the West. More than 6,000 wells were approved last year for public lands. Companies drilled nearly 4,000 wells, more than twice the number drilled in 1996.
A liability waiver for makers of the fuel additive MTBE, which can pollute groundwater, was stripped out of the bill.
The bill does not open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Supporters are planning to use other legislation to open the refuge.
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
