MOTLEY FOOL FRETS ABOUT THE ENERGY BILL

There has been and will continue to be much commentary on what to expect from the energy legislation soon to come out of the House-Senate conference process. And much more commentary on the upcoming global warming legislation. For now, a Fool's perspective:

Who’ll Pay America’s Energy Bill
David Lee Smith, August 30, 2007 (The Motley Fool)

WHO
David Lee Smith, investment advisor, aka The Motley Fool, aka “Chicken Little”

If the Fool is as astute about energy as he is about investing, it will be a cold autumn for New Energy.

WHAT
The Motley Fool here ponders the value of congressional energy legislation in the face of rising energy demand and increasingly expensive fossil fuel sources.

WHEN
The discussion focuses on this moment, with easy oil supplies falling off and congress about to take up energy legislation.

WHERE
- The very real world of energy demand and supply VS the strange world of congressional legislation on energy

Here is The Onion's take on what to expect. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- Summary of Senate energy bill concerns: fuel-efficiency standards, biofuel requirements, price-gouging at the gas pump, and loan guarantees for nuclear reactor new construction.
- Summary of House energy bill concerns: boosting taxes on oil companies, appliance efficiency, incentives for the building of ethanol cars, and renewable energy.
- Summary of the President's 2 primary energy recommendations: increased use of renewable fuels over the next 10 years, gasoline consumption reduced 20% over the next 10 years.
- The Motley Fool considers these priorities commendable but incapable of “putting a dent” in the “looming energy crisis.”

Truth is, if there is any advance knowledge on what will happen with energy and global warming legislation, it is in the direction that Harry Reid is gesturing.

QUOTES
Fool: “I'd really like to see our leaders in Washington form a serious -- the operative word -- study group from members of Congress and the industry, constituting something of a new Manhattan Project for energy. Such a task force would, it seems to me, be a crucial first effort toward moving us away from our excessive and dangerous dependence on fossil fuels. In the meantime, because it's unlikely that such a radical step will occur, Fools would be wise not to underweight the energy sector in their investment portfolios.”
(NewEnergyNews: In the article, the Fool recommends Big Oil investments. This implies he does not anticipate passage of the national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that, by mandating a requirement for each state to obtain a minimum percent of its electricity from renewable sources, would likely spur an even bigger boom in New Energy.)