WASHINGTON — With Congress feeling voter anger over the lack of new energy legislation, more senators may soon be joining the bipartisan “Gang of 16” that is pushing new offshore oil drilling and money for renewable energy.
“There’s no question it’s growing, well beyond 16,” Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Tuesday as lawmakers returned to work following the August recess. “It’s probably closer to 22 ultimately.”
The names of the newest members won’t be released until Thursday, he said, after those senators have time to tell interested parties in their states.
After meeting with others in the group for about an hour Tuesday, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said “quite a bit” of the legislation had been agreed on, but he did not give details.
The bill isn’t expected to be finished quickly, especially with the new members joining.
So far, the group advocates legislation that would strip the current tax incentives for oil companies, but only on new offshore oil production. The bill would direct that money to tax breaks for renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Mark Udall of Eldorado Springs announced Tuesday that he was offering House legislation with many of the same elements the Gang of 16 backs.
“We can’t drill our way out of this,” Udall said. “That’s the point of my legislation — to throw the kitchen sink at it.”
Udall’s bill will include a requirement that utilities nationwide generate 20 percent of their energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources.
Salazar said that two weeks ago, when he joined the Gang of 16, he wanted such a requirement.
But a nationwide renewable standard isn’t likely to appear in a Senate energy bill, Nelson said.
“It’s been considered and considered and considered,” he said. “Thus far, there hasn’t been a way for it to be included.”
Udall also wants to increase the average fleet mileage attained by American auto manufacturers to 35 mpg by 2015 and to 50 mpg by 2030. That would accelerate the requirement passed in 2007 that raised the fleetwide average to 35 mpg by 2020.
Udall said he was asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to consider the bill.
House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio on Tuesday threatened to shut down movement on budgets, saying that House Democratic leaders were refusing to offer enough on drilling.
The bill Democrats plan to unveil, Boehner said, “will be just as feckless as the ones introduced by the majority all year long. In fact, the bill Democrats will trot out later (Tuesday) will permanently lock up a whopping 80 percent of the energy resources located off our shores.”
Democrats could pass spending bills in the House without Republican cooperation, making Boehner’s threat largely meaningless. In the Senate, however, where there is a 60-vote threshold to end debate, Republican cooperation is mandatory.
Anne C. Mulkern: 202-662-8907 or amulkern@denverpost.com
