Before the bill was passed both Democrats and Republicans had
pitched amendments that would have boosted efforts to transform
coal into liquid transportation fuels. But both parties failed
in their efforts, handing a huge victory to environmental groups
that argued that the coal-to-liquids approach should be scrapped
because it would generate huge amounts of carbon dioxide
emissions and exacerbate global warming.
The Democratic amendment, sponsored by Senator Jon Tester of
Montana, would have provided billions of dollars in loans and
other incentives to companies that build CTL plants that capture
and sequester at least 75% of their carbon dioxide emissions.
The sequestration aspect is critical, Democrats argued, so that
CTL does not worsen global warming.
But Tester's amendment was apparently not environmentally
protective enough to calm those fears, as 20 Democrats broke
party ranks to oppose the measure, which failed by a lopsided
tally of 33-61. Among the Democrats to vote against the
amendment was Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who is a
cosponsor of one of the most stringent global-warming bills
circulating on Capitol Hill.
The Republican amendment, sponsored by Bunning, would have
required the US to manufacture and use at least 6 billion
gallons of CTL transportation fuel between 2016 and 2022. But
Bunning's measure would not require CTL plants to sequester
their CO2 emissions, because Republican lawmakers say the
necessary technology has not yet been fully developed. Bunning's
amendment failed 39-55, with six Republican lawmakers siding
with Democrats to sink the measure.
Brent Blackwelder of Friends of the Earth, an environmental
group, called the defeat of the CTL amendments "a victory for
anyone who takes global warming seriously or cares about
environmentally destructive mining."
Democrats also failed in their bid to include language in the
bill that would require all US electric utilities to generate a
certain percentage of their power via wind and other renewable
sources. Republicans blocked the so-called Renewable Portfolio
Standard, saying it would disadvantage utilities in Southern
states that do not have abundant wind resources.
Several House committees are working to move wide-ranging
energy legislation to the floor for a vote sometime in July. The
two chambers will have to agree on identical language before
sending a bill to the White House for Bush's signature.
