Articles
Washington Post: House Passes Bill to Support Renewable Energy
08/05/2007
By Sholnn Freeman
The House yesterday passed a far-reaching package of energy
legislation that would promote conservation and the use of renewable resources
at the expense of the country's oil and gas interests.
The bill, which passed 241 to 172, would require more energy
efficiency in appliances, buildings and power grids, which proponents of the
bill say would reduce carbon dioxide emissions and electricity use. It calls
for more energy efficiency measures in the Capitol building. It also would
provide grants for studies to promote ethanol pipelines, installation of pumps
for 85 percent ethanol fuel at gas stations and production of cellulosic
ethanol.
The Democrats also won passage of a provision that would
require that 15 percent of electricity from private utilities come from solar,
wind or other renewable energy sources. It would be the first such requirement
to apply to all the states.
The House last night also passed, 221 to 189, a companion
tax package, totaling nearly $16 billion, that targets the oil and gas
industry. In a letter to Congress, however, the Bush administration said Friday
that the two House measures would result in less domestic oil and gas
production. The letter said President Bush's senior advisers would recommend
that he veto the bills.
Since taking control of Congress last year, the Democrats
have identified the reordering of the nation's energy priorities as an
important goal that would position their party as the principal advocates for
environmentally friendly policies.
"This is the historic break with the fossil-fuel past
and the beginning of the solar wind renewable era in the
However, the energy bill omitted several proposals,
including other mandates for renewable energy, incentives for coal-to-liquid
production and a tougher vehicle fuel-economy standard contained in a Senate
package that was passed in June. They could be taken up later this year, when
the House and Senate reconcile their energy bills, or in a possible bill on
global warming.
"There are many things that will put the strength of
the federal government behind energy conservation and renewable energy,"
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said of the House legislation. "This bill is
some of the low-hanging fruit -- the issues that we can agree upon across regions.
This is a warm-up for us to tackle those tougher issues."
Republicans pilloried the bill for ignoring ways to boost
the nation's traditional energy supplies -- labeling it the Democrats'
"energy scarcity bill." Republicans challenged Democrats for doing
nothing to promote nuclear power, coal-to-liquid plants or new oil offshore
drilling in federal waters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) launched a drive for a
new energy bill in January, but Democrats struggled over key issues. The
byproduct of 10 committees, the "consensus" energy bill nearly came
unraveled in skirmishes over turf and regional conflicts.
Pelosi has had to mollify members from oil- and
gas-producing districts by changing provisions on oil royalties and permitting.
Democrats also had to contend with opposition to the renewable electricity
mandate by lawmakers from Southern states, where officials say they lack the
wind or hydropower resources to meet those standards.
Earlier in the week, Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), the lead
sponsor of the provision, lowered the mandate from 20 to 15 percent, broadening
support for the measure. Later in negotiations, supporters made another change
allowing states to achieve up to 4 percent of the new mandate through
efficiency. The provision passed as an amendment to the energy bill by a vote
of 220 to 190.
The House energy bill left out vehicle fuel economy
increases included in the Senate bill, in the face of heavy opposition from
auto lobbyists, the United Auto Workers and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.).
Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, wants to make auto fuel usage part of a broad climate change bill
later in the year.
Throughout the year, Dingell squared off with Markey, a principal supporter of higher fuel economy standards. With that fight moving to a conference committee, Markey said yesterday that he wants a seat at that table.