Bush wades deeper into congressional energy debate

Bush wades deeper into congressional energy debate

Washington (Platts)--15Jun2005


President Bush waded deeper into the US congressional energy debate Wednesday,
saying he was prepared to "come up with reasonable compromises" to key issues,
including an MTBE proposal that has divided the House and Senate for years, in
order to get comprehensive legislation enacted. 

In an address to an energy efficiency conference, Bush pressed the Senate to
approve legislation it is now debating, which would trigger negotiations on a
final energy bill with the House. The House of Representatives passed its bill
in April. "The Senate's turn is now up," Bush said in his fifth speech devoted
to energy since March.

"It's now their time to get something done...And my advice is they ought to
keep this in mind: Summer is here, temperatures are rising, and tempers will
really rise if Congress doesn't pass an energy bill." In remarks aimed at
lawmakers, Bush said he was prepared to make tough choices if, and when, the
House and Senate could not agree on how to treat manufacturers of the gasoline
additive MTBE, which helped derail the last energy bill in 2003.

"I look forward to working with members of the Congress to come up with
reasonable compromises on outstanding issues such as MTBE," Bush said. The
House insists on having a "safe harbor" provision in the energy bill that
would limit lawsuits against MTBE producers, which is anathema to the Senate.
A top Senate aide previously warned that such a provision could again doom the
energy bill in House-Senate talks, when the legislation is close to enactment.

The president also asked Congress to pass his stalled "Clear Skies" plan to
cut power-sector emissions of mercury, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. "The
past four years, Americans have been paying the price for [Congress] delaying
a national energy policy," Bush said. "Now is the time to put a strategy [in
place]."

This story was originally published in Platts Electricity Alert
http://www.electricityalert.platts.com

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