Katrina Spurs New
Debate on Energy, Fuel Economy, Offshore Drilling
September 13, 2005 — By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina has
reopened a national debate on energy policy, generating new
congressional support for more stringent automobile fuel economy
requirements and a fresh push by the oil industry for drilling in areas
now off-limits.
Just over a month after President Bush signed into law a massive energy
bill, lawmakers are talking about the need for a second one. If it
emerges from Congress, it will carry the stamp of Katrina and the
vulnerabilities the storm exposed to the nation's energy system.
"Hurricane Katrina exposed the harsh reality that we have been skating
on thin ice when it comes to this country's energy concentrations on the
Gulf Coast," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Senate
Energy Committee and an architect of the energy legislation passed this
summer.
Domenici, in an interview and an appearance Sunday on cable TV's C-SPAN
channel, also said the Gulf disaster and the skyrocketing gasoline costs
it unleashed has made it clear more needs to be done to reduce energy
use. That includes requiring automakers to significantly increase the
fuel economy of their fleets, he said.
The hurricane was "a serious wake-up call that we have to do something
both on the supply side and the conservation side" that before was
politically impossible, Domenici said. He added that he is a convert to
increasing auto fuel economy standards after first believing it should
be left to the marketplace.
Repeated attempts to require automakers to make their vehicles more fuel
efficient have failed because of strong bipartisan opposition in
Congress.
The White House strongly opposed proposals earlier this year that would
have required SUVs to attain the same fuel efficiency as cars and
increased fuel standards from the current 27 miles per gallon to 35 mpg
over the next decade.
Domenici said those political barriers may be overcome in the wake of
Katrina and likely high gasoline prices for years to come. That is
possible, he said, if auto fuel economy improvements are coupled with
opening new areas for oil and gas development, including the resources
in offshore areas that have been under an exploration and drilling ban
since 1980.
Reflecting a widespread view among GOP lawmakers, Domenici also was
optimistic about easing environmental requirements that the oil industry
argues have prevented new refinery construction.
Some of the clean-air requirements suspended by the Environmental
Protection Agency in the aftermath of Katrina to ease the flow of
gasoline supplies should be permanently repealed, Sen. George Allen, R-Va.,
argued.
All these issues remain highly controversial and the disagreements will
not be resolved easily. The auto industry remains strongly opposed to
requirements for a major increase in fuel economy mandates, as is the
Bush administration.
If gasoline prices decline and stabilize, it "could take the wind out
of" some of these efforts such as the push for an expansion of offshore
drilling, says Christine Tezak, an analyst with Stanford Washington
Research Group.
Environmentalists will fight any easing of clean air and clean water
requirements on refineries or motor fuels. They argue that market
considerations -- not excessive environmental rules that help reduce air
pollution -- have kept oil companies from building new refineries.
In addition, many lawmakers from coastal states say they want the bans
on offshore drilling outside the central and western Gulf of Mexico kept
in place. Environmentalists still hope to stave off legislation to open
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to drilling, but they
acknowledge Katrina has made that even harder.
Domenici predicted that the drilling ban on the Alaska refuge will be
lifted.
The oil and gas industry, believing it likely already has won the Alaska
refuge issue, has focused its attention on opening up areas of the Outer
Continental Shelf to drilling, if not for oil at least natural gas.
Industry groups, including the American Chemistry Council, argue it is
important to find more natural gas to get prices down. The fuel, which
has increased five-fold in recent years, not only is used widely to heat
homes and for electric power but also in the making of fertilizer and
other chemical products.
"These areas must follow the example of Louisiana and many other states
in sharing these energy resources," Bob Slaughter, president of the
National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, told House and Senate
hearings last week.
Katrina should not be used as "an excuse to say we should be drilling
more of our wilderness areas and offshore," said Elliot Negin, a
spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental
advocacy group. "Our answer is that energy efficiency, fuel savings
solutions make much more sense in the long term to lower our dependence
on oil."
Today, 85 percent of these resources are not accessible because of
offshore-drilling moratoriums, said John Engler, a former Michigan
governor and now chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers.
He wants Congress to give states the ability to waive the federal bans.
Such a proposal almost made it into the energy bill earlier this year,
only to be blocked by a threat by Florida's senators to filibuster the
legislation if it were included.
Under the proposal, states could petition for a waiver of the offshore
drilling ban. In return, they would receive a large chunk of the
royalties the federal government collects from sales of drilling leases.
Lawmakers from coastal states have opposed tinkering with the
offshore-drilling ban, fearing that energy development -- even far
offshore -- could lead to spills or otherwise affect tourism.
Source: Associated Press |