Energizer Money: Enviros delighted with House Democrats' energy bill

[Demeter]

http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2007/01/17/clean_energy/index.html?source=daily

By Amanda Griscom Little
17 Jan 2007

"I can't find anything wrong with it. Really, there is no catch. It's all good."

Let the record show that these contented words were spoken by an environmentalist -- Jim Presswood, a top lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council to be exact. He's talking about the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, introduced on Friday, which would repeal billions in tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and steer the resulting funds toward energy efficiency and renewable energy....

The CLEAN in the bill's name stands for "Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation" -- which, as strained legislative acronyms go, could be worse. It's part of a broad suite of bills the new Democratic House leadership vowed to pass in the first 100 working hours of Congress, including measures to raise the minimum wage, expand stem-cell research, and reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Two Republicans -- Reps. Wayne Gilchrest and Roscoe Bartlett, both from Maryland -- have crossed over to lend support to the legislation, which now has 197 cosponsors....

The bill would generate $14 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It would make energy companies ineligible for tax breaks designed to help the manufacturing sector, and would cut a tax break for the geological studies associated with oil exploration. Perhaps most notably, the bill aims to recoup some of the money lost via an Interior Department screwup that let oil companies off the hook for royalties from Gulf of Mexico drilling leases signed in 1998 and 1999; if companies refused to renegotiate those leases, they would be charged a $9-per-barrel "conservation fee" or banned from getting new leases in federal waters.


Before the bill was introduced, some enviros worried that the pot of money would not be earmarked for the cleanest types of alternative energy -- such as solar, wind, and cellulosic ethanol -- but instead funneled toward controversial technologies masquerading as clean alternatives, like nuclear power and coal-to-liquid fuels. "We vigorously pursued language that would limit these funds only to clean, renewable technologies, exempting nuclear and coal-derived energy sources," said Presswood. "That was a condition for our support and the Democratic leadership granted it."

Assuming the bill passes, that is. It's expected to sail through the House when it comes up for a vote this Thursday, Jan. 18, but chances are slimmer in the Senate, where the Democratic majority is razor-thin and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said senators might take "several months" to review the bill. The odds are against the CLEAN Energy Act actually becoming law. Still, enviros -- happy at long last to have a bill to support instead of just bills to oppose -- are sure to keep the pressure on the Senate and the White House.