Tell your senators to reject the dangerous energy bill!

[duvinnie]

Just rec'vd this nrdc alert. Dont stand by while the energy co's pillage our public lands. (emphases mine)

Take action right now at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10099

After nearly three months of secret negotiations that shut out Democratic
participation and public scrutiny, the Republican leaders of the energy
conference committee released the final version of the energy bill this past
Saturday. Despite the absence of Arctic Refuge drilling provisions, this is NOT
an acceptable energy bill: it would hand billions of dollars to the polluting
oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries while exempting them from environmental
laws that protect drinking water, clean air and public lands.

Among the most damaging provisions in the final bill is a liability waiver for
producers of the toxic gasoline additive MTBE. The waiver would shield
producers from being held responsible for the cost of cleaning up drinking
water contaminated with MTBE, even though the industry knew the chemical would
pollute groundwater. The few positive parts of the bill, such as tax incentives
for wind and solar power, are vastly overshadowed by policies that would
undermine environmental protections, add billions to the national debt and do
nothing to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

The electricity section of the bill would open all public lands, including
national parks, to the construction of electricity transmission lines, while
other provisions would establish oil and gas development as the dominant use of
federal public lands at the expense of water quality, property rights of
ranchers and farmers, wilderness, wildlife and cultural, historical and
recreational values. The bill would even exempt the oil, gas and coal
industries from key components of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Safe
Drinking Water Act.

The House of Representatives approved the bill Tuesday afternoon, so our last
remaining chance of stopping the bill is a filibuster in the Senate, where a
vote is expected as early as Thursday.

== What to do ==
Send a message *right now,* urging your senators to vote to filibuster the
energy bill.

== Contact information ==
You can email or fax your senators directly from NRDC's Earth Action Center at
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10099
If you prefer to call your senators, the Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-
3121 (or toll-free at 800-839-5276).

Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers, and urge them
to contact their senators as well.

Thank you!

[acmavm]

1. Well, I called Ben Nelson's office.That is the definition of "wasting

time and money".

[Kolesar]

2. the Bill passed the House

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/18/politics/18CND-ENERGY.html

House Approves $30 Billion Energy Bill Backed by Bush
By CARL HULSE
Published: November 18, 2003

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - The House of Representatives approved a
$30 billion energy bill this afternoon, a day after Democrats
were frustrated in their attempts to eliminate provisions that
have stirred opposition by conservation groups.

The vote was 246 to 180 because a few dozen Democrats decided to
support it. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation in
the next few days. Passage of a new energy bill has been a top
priority of President Bush, who is backing this bill.

The path to House approval was cleared on Monday, when a House-
Senate conference committee approved the bill after Republicans
defeated a series of Democratic efforts to win changes,
including two different tries at blocking a plan to provide oil
companies and refineries legal immunity from pollution lawsuits
over a gasoline additive. Democrats also lost a bid to remove a
provision that would allow some cities to escape enforcement of
federal air pollution rules temporarily.

[salin]

3. called senator Bayh's office today

points spoken to:

Dangerous deregulation on two fronts: repeal of PUHCA and taking regulatory powers away from states and giving more to FERC - who couldn't detect the market manipulation in California. Stated that this was very dangerous to rate payers who could not afford major hikes due to market game playing by companies, and that the California case demonstrated that multiple companies WILL engage in such behaviors when they see/find the "opportunity" to do so.

Emphasis on huge investment (and tax giveaways and subsidies that a country so FAR in debt cannot afford) for increasing current (limited) energy production (more land available, more drilling and digging), while investing very little in the development of alternative fuels that are NECESSARY for energy dependence.

The huge costs.

The dangerous precedence set by the manner in which the conference bill was handled - that the blocking out of democratic members of the committee... while having corporate lobbyists draft whole components of the bill... and then giving democratic members a couple of days to comment on a more than thousand page bill... if successful would become the main way of doing things in Congress if not stopped.

I urged the Senator to support a fillibuster to kill the bill.

Not surprising (Bayh's office is generally less informed than Senator Lugar's) the person thought that amendments were still being offered. I told him that I believed that in conference committee once in final form no amendments could be offered as the same piece of legislation had to be approved by BOTH houses of Congress (he paused, and said, yes you are correct); then I said that I believed that i had read that the House just passed the bill - thus what is before the Senate is the up and down vote (he said... he hadn't heard that the House had voted on it yet! :eyes: )

But he was responsive. But had no idea where the Senator stood on this issue.

It can be so frustrating to make these calls - but it is important! Make those calls folks make them fast and furious. FILLIBUSTER!!!!!!!!!!! Note that in the news today the two Maine, Republican Senators indicated that they would (might?) be supportive of a fillibuster. PUSH THIS.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. faxed and called

Santorum and Specter. :cry:

[salin]

5. any hope with Spector? n/t

[Mandate My Ass]

6. some hope

http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/14/news/economy/energy_bill.reut/

Also this week, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told Republican leaders he was concerned about fuel additive provisions and Clean Air Act changes in a draft energy bill, signaling growing dissent within the party.

"I have a lot of personal and constituent concerns on these issues," Specter scrawled in a hand-written note next to his signature on a letter to Domenici.

Specter also said he opposed a retroactive liability waiver for makers of fuel additive MTBE, a suspected carcinogen that has contaminated underwater water supplies in many cities.

House Republicans support the MTBE liability provision, while the Senate opposes it.