Energy divides House Democrats: Where to drill, mileage standards among the issues to be worked out
Jul 25 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - David Ivanovich Houston Chronicle Crafting national energy policy is never easy. Just ask House Democrats. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday that Democratic leaders plan to bring an energy bill to the floor by the end of next week, before lawmakers bug out of town for their August recess. "I do expect it to come up" next week, Hoyer said. But Hoyer's assurances did not quell speculation on Capitol Hill that lawmakers would have to put the energy bill off until September. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, places the odds at only 50-50 the House will take up a package before the break. Hoyer said he expects the energy bill to look much like the package House leaders outlined a month ago -- a proposal that aimed to encourage conservation and boost the use of alternative energy sources. That package sidestepped perhaps the most controversial issue, calls to raise mileage requirements for new cars and trucks. The Senate made higher fuel efficiency standards the centerpiece of its energy package. The Senate bill, approved last month, would require cars, light trucks, minivans and SUVs to achieve an average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., wants to be even more aggressive, calling for a 35-mile-per-gallon standard by 2018 and an annual 4 percent improvement in following years. Hoping to head off such an ambitious plan, automakers -- and their allies on Capitol Hill -- are backing a more modest proposal floated by Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., that would have separate standards for cars and trucks but require they achieve between 32 and 35 miles per gallon by 2022. That measure already has garnered 101 co-sponsors, including House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., who has balked at other efforts to raise fuel mileage requirements. Hoyer Tuesday reiterated a pledge to take up the mileage issue in the fall. But environmentalists and other supporters of a sharp increase in mileage requirements argue now is the time to strike, fearing such a delay will doom the proposal as the political parties switch into full campaign mode for the 2008 presidential race. Markey has not revealed how he plans to proceed. He can try to amend the proposal on the House floor or wait until House and Senate negotiators meet in a conference committee to iron out differences between their packages. Package aims at producers Oil and gas industry lobbyists, meanwhile, are hoping to swat down provisions passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee, which producers fear will complicate their efforts to drill for oil and gas. Those measures would add new fees to process drilling permits, lengthen the time regulators can take to process drilling applications, require the U.S. Minerals Management Service to perform more audits and do away with a program that allows producers to pay the federal government royalties in actual oil and gas rather than in cash. Producers argue these will hamper efforts to increase domestic oil and gas production. Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. suggested those fears are exaggerated. "The tales they weave would make good fodder for a Stephen King novel," Rahall said in a prepared statement. But he faces opposition from Green and 20 to 25 Democrats from oil producing states. Rather than just sit back and vote against the bill, Green said, these "Energy Democrats" or "Hydrocarbon Democrats," as they have come to be known, have already gone to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to voice their opposition. They're joined by a group of conservative, mostly Southern Democrats known as the Blue Dogs, who likewise have spoken out against Rahall's proposals. Tax and utility issues Many producing state Democrats also have raised objections to a slate of tax proposals passed out by the House Ways and Means Committee. That plan would keep oil and gas companies from enjoying a rollback in the corporate tax rate, change energy companies' tax treatment for overseas operations and complicate their efforts to write off exploration and production expenses. The Senate has rejected a similar tax package, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to resurrect the plan. Democratic leaders have not yet decided whether to try to add the tax provisions to the energy bill or keep those measures in a separate bill. Besides these issues, House Democrats are wrangling over whether to include provisions to require utilities to use more renewable fuels and to help encourage production of jet and diesel fuel from coal. Whether Pelosi and other Democratic leaders can juggle these diverse factions remains to be seen. "The Democratic leadership is going to work very hard to get this thing on the floor -- but they don't want to lose either," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a trade association representing smaller and medium-sized independent oil and gas producers. david.ivanovich@chron.com Copyright: SFChronical To subscribe or visit go to: http://www.chron.com |