U.S. Energy Bill an Earth Day Giveaway, Warn Environmentalists
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WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 22 (OneWorld) - The U.S. House of Representatives approved an energy bill Thursday--the eve of Earth Day--after beating back numerous attempts to minimize the environmental harm that critics said the measure would wreak.
Among the setbacks for environmentalists and their Democratic allies, the House bill included provisions to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and to protect from lawsuits makers of the gasoline additive MTBE, which has been tied to water contamination in 29 states. It also would provide some $12 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for energy companies, more than the administration of President George W. Bush had sought. The White House, while noting that the incentives would not favor renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power as much as Bush had proposed in a plan to Congress, nevertheless hailed the measure. ''This is a comprehensive piece of legislation and it does address one of the fundamental problems facing our nation and that is that we are growing more dependent on foreign sources of energy,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Carl Pope, executive director of the environmental Sierra Club, countered that the bill resembled one brought forward last year and, like that one, was off-target. ''Even the Bush administration's own Department of Energy has said that last year's nearly identical energy bill would do nothing to lower gas prices or lower America's imports of foreign oil,'' Pope said in a statement. Thursday's bill included $8.1 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, most of it for the coal, natural gas, nuclear, and oil industries. An additional $2 billion over 10 years would fund research into oil and gas recovery in extremely deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The Office of Management and Budget, stating the administration's position, has said the energy bill should not contain any new taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas exploration. Lawmakers approved the largely Republican crafted bill 249-183 after two days in which the majority party thwarted repeated attempts by Democrats to make changes they said would reduce energy use, including a bid to raise automobile fuel economy requirements; shield the arctic refuge from oil exploration; and strip the bill of its assistance to MTBE manufacturers. A number of major MTBE industry players are based in Texas, the home state of House Majority Leader Tom Delay and Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Delay, under scrutiny for possible ethics violations involving sponsored travel and other perks, in particular pushed for the shield and an extension until 2014 of the date by which manufacturers must find a new product or shut down. The Senate has yet to pass an energy bill and Thursday's House measure would need to be reconciled with its bill before final votes are taken. Legislative and lobbying sources said that as in the past, they expected the process to be a bumpy one. Bush proposed an energy plan four years ago only to see agreement on a final package repeatedly elude Congress. Key sticking points have included MTBE and the arctic refuge. Numerous lawsuits have been filed alleging that MTBE manufacturers made the additive, designed to reduce air pollution, knowing that it caused water pollution and health problems. Makers of the additive have strenuously denied the allegations. Democrats said shielding firms from litigation and giving them money to ease their transition into making other products would saddle taxpayers with costs that industry ought to bear. But Republicans including Delay said the oil industry began making MTBE in the first place to meet government air-pollution requirements and Congress therefore should protect the manufacturers. At issue in the arctic wilderness--a perennial bone of contention--is 1.5 million acres of coastal plain within the 19-million-acre refuge. Oil industry representatives have said that drilling would be limited to about 2,000 acres within the coastal tract and that it could be done with minimal environmental damage. Environmentalists, however, have said they fear that a network of surface and buried pipelines and platforms will spell calamity for many of the refuge's 100-odd bird and animal species. Native Alaskan communities along the coastal plain live off the land and water. For many, caribou in particular represent a cultural compass point and a staple of their diet. The United States uses about 20.8 million barrels of oil a day. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that Americans' energy demand could increase by about 30 percent over the next 20 years. Opponents of drilling said that if the refuge were opened to drilling then its oil would take about a decade to come online, and that conservation efforts and tighter fuel standards could make a greater impact much sooner. ''We have the technology to make all cars go 40 miles per gallon within 10 years, saving more oil than the U.S. currently imports from the Persian Gulf or could ever take from the national wildlife refuge, combined,'' said the Sierra Club's Pope. House members defeated 254-177 an attempt to require car makers to increase fuel economy to a fleet average of 33 miles per gallon over the next decade. Democrats said that if Americans managed to hold their oil consumption at today's levels, the refuge might provide a total of six months' worth of the fuel. ''It is sheer folly to spoil this unique ecosystem for a six-month supply of oil,'' said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader. The American Petroleum Institute, representing the oil industry, has said the refuge could provide the equivalent of current oil imports from Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years. Senate Democrats have threatened to filibuster--or subject to lengthy speeches designed to stall a vote--any bill that would open the arctic refuge to oil drilling. Friday marks the 35th commemoration of Earth Day, which began in 1970 as a series of teach-ins and ushered in a decade during which U.S. environmental activists achieved some of their biggest legislative victories. These included passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and Environmental Policy Act. |
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