WVEC Action Alert Supplement

July 27 , 2005

A Bill Only Exxon Could Love

After four years of negotiations, members of Congress are patting themselves on the back, having reached an agreement on energy legislation. One problem: it's still a really bad bill. A functional energy policy would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spend taxpayer dollars wisely and respect the environment. The bill agreed on by House and Senate negotiators yesterday accomplishes none of these goals. But oil and utility companies have spent $367 million over the last two years lobbying Congress, so it's expected to pass anyway.

CONGRESS ADDICTED TO FOREIGN OIL: The bill fails to take any steps that will substantively reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Specifically, the final version "rejected a Senate provision that required reduction of oil consumption by one million barrels per day by 2015." Under the bill "our need for imported oil will continue to grow for as long as models are able to project."

THE $8.5 BILLION GIVEAWAY: Big energy companies are flush with so much cash, they don't know what to do with it. That didn't stop Congress from showering the electricity, coal, nuclear, natural gas and oil industries with $8.5 billion in tax breaks and billions more in loan guarantees and other subsidies. Apparently, members of the conference weren't particularly concerned how they spent taxpayer money. The Washington Post reports, "as House-Senate conferees worked late into the night this week on the final paragraphs of the legislation, a proposal was made, and approved, to provide $250,000 for a study of 'irradiated fuel' -- although many of the conference participants acknowledged they had no idea what that was."

DROPPING THE BALL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY: The final legislation dropped a provision that would have required utilities "to generate at least 10 percent of their electricity through renewable fuels by 2020." The proposal, championed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) was "was a low-cost, market-driven approach to cutting demand for fossil fuels and easing air pollution." On this issue, we are officially less progressive than China. Starting with far less capacity than the United States, the Asian nation has committed "to supply 10 percent of its needs from so-called renewable energy sources, including wind, solar energy, small hydroelectric dams and biomass like plant fibers and animal wastes" by 2020.

AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER: The bill contains a host of provisions that will wreak havoc on the environment. For example, the bill creates a loophole in the Safe Drinking Water Act allowing "oil and natural gas drilling companies to inject fluids laced with toxic chemicals and contaminants into oil and gas wells that penetrate underground aquifers, risking contamination of drinking water sources." The bill also "creates a loophole in the Clean Water Act" for oil and gas companies which allows the industry to ignore regulations designed to limit "erosion and runoff into rivers and streams" at construction sites. Funding is also provided for "an inventory of oil and natural gas resources" in sensitive coastal areas, a move seen "by many coastal states as the first step toward reopening these areas to drilling."

IGNORING GLOBAL WARMING: The energy bill "like the Bush administration, is blind to global warming." The final version "contains no substantive provisions to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming," such as a carbon tax or cap. The conferees even stripped out "a Senate provision acknowledging the threat of climate change." As the world moves forward to deal with the problem, America continues to tread water. The bill merely calls for "further studies and research."

THE "GOOD NEWS": The good news about the bill is that it does not include provisions that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve to drilling or shield companies that contaminate groundwater with the toxic chemical MTBE from legal liability. (Conservatives are planning on trying to jam a provision allowing Arctic drilling in next year's budget). But, after four years, America deserves more than an energy policy that excludes two offensive, regressive policies. Even with ANWR drilling and MTBE out for now, it's "a bill that only industry executives and lobbyists could love."