HERE COMES ENERGY (AGAIN)

On Democratic energy and climate change proposals, President Bush might as well be Grouch Marx: “Whatever it is, I’m against it.” He contends that US action on climate change in the absence of similar action by emerging giants like China and India would harm US economic interests, despite European and Japanese competitiveness under the Kyoto Protocols. (Don’t miss the last quote below, too elegant to abridge.)

Note: NewEnergyNews will continue to advocate for moving from the arcane phrase "Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)" to the more obvious "Renewable Electricity Standard (RES)" despite the fact that the most up-to-date graphic available is headed with the old phrase.

Lawmakers Get Ready to Revisit Energy Bills; House, Senate Must Reconcile Widely Varying Legislation
Steven Mufson, September 5, 2007 (Washington Post)

WHO
Leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate: Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John W. Warner (R-Va.); House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.);

Ohio will soon become state number 26 with a RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD (RES). Isn't it time the so-called leaders gave New Energy the important boost of a NATIONAL standard? (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Party leaders will conference to reconcile significant differences in the energy bills passed earlier this year and the negotiations are expected to be contentious. At the same time, Senators Lieberman and Warner are working up global climate change legislation.

WHEN
Before energy legislation or climate change proposals go to President Bush’s desk.

WHERE
Where do the important deals get made?

WHY
A conference process is riddled with deal-making and uncertainties. Anything could be compromised away. Even after agreement is reached, a Rambo legislator could make all kinds of trouble.
- At issue in the energy legislation:
1. Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFÉ) standards
2. Renewable Electricty Standard (RES)
3. Requirement for national ethanol consumption
4. Royalties, taxes, subsidies and incentives on fossil fuel production, renewable energy production and efficiency measures
- The Lieberman-Warner climate change legislation is expected to include some form of cap-and-trade proposal on emissions. Dingell wants a tax. The Senators’ efforts are further compromised by Warner’s announced retirement, which makes him a lame duck and compromises his deal-making leverage.
- Dingell and Pelosi are at odds over CAFÉ standards and Pelosi may tip Rangel for the conference committee but this will alienate the influential Dingell.
Money is also at issue:
1. Loan guarantees for “innovative technologies” which may funnel $50 billion to nuclear plant construction are negotiated.
2. Crucial extension of a 30% income tax credit (ITC) for renewable energies through 2016 is not in the Senate bill.

It is hard to understand why the U.S. auto fuel efficiency standard must be so low. Are Americans really that gluttonous? Or is there some vested interest happy to keep them sucking at the pump? (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Post, on the conference process: “Another possibility is that senior leaders will bypass the conference committee, the same way they handled the recent lobbying and ethics bill. Congressional leaders would make a deal, the Senate would amend and pass its own bill, and Pelosi would put it to a vote in the House without allowing amendments. Leadership aides said no decisions have been made on how to proceed.”
- Post: “It has been 30 years since President Jimmy Carter delivered a call to action on energy, calling the issue "the moral equivalent of war." Like today's lawmakers, he warned that the United States risked compromising its foreign-policy latitude, the economy and the environment…the nation's energy picture is more dire today. The United States last year spent eight times as much on oil imports as it did 30 years ago. Oil imports account for more than 60 percent of U.S. consumption, up from just 25 percent when Carter spoke. The average American today uses about 70 barrels of oil a year; [when] Carter said that in 1977 the average American used the energy equivalent of 60 barrels of oil.”