In Congress, a boost for alternative energy

The House bill will look a lot like one that cleared the Senate last week, but it will omit issue of fuel-economy standards.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the June 25, 2007 edition

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Washington - \Congress is a big step closer to its goal of tipping national energy policy away from oil and gas development and toward alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, and biomass.

With the Senate's passage of an energy bill June 21, action this week shifts to the House, where Democrats will be rolling out their own plan for America's energy future.

Rifts within their ranks, however, are forcing House Democrats to postpone some tough issues until fall – a move that could complicate coming to terms with the Senate once an energy bill clears the House.

At the heart of the House struggle over energy policy is a standoff between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell (D) of Michigan, a powerful committee chairman with long-standing ties to the auto industry.

Speaker Pelosi wants this year's energy bill to mark a clean break with energy policy of the past, when Republicans controlled the Congress and enacted financial breaks for oil and gas producers. Representative Dingell worries that new regulations could sink already-battered US automakers and cost more industry jobs.

Lobbyists hard at work

Few issues are as intensely lobbied on Capitol Hill as energy policy, where a shift in the tax code or a new regulation can mean billions gained or lost for energy-related industries. Automakers hope to derail higher standards on fuel economy, especially for SUVs and minivans. Electricity producers want to squelch a mandate to use more renewable fuels. Oil and gas producers risk losing the tax breaks they won in the 2005 energy bill.

The Senate bill (see list below), which passed 65 to 27 Thursday, was crafted in part by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D) of New Mexico, a longtime advocate of alternative energy. "There has been enormous movement [in recent months] in public understanding of the need to diversify energy sources, deal with the problem of greenhouse-gas emissions, and increase our energy independence," said Senator Bingaman after the vote.

Two provisions that failed were a $32.1 billion tax package to fund alternative technologies and a "portfolio standard" requirement that electric power producers generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable fuels by 2020. Both could be reconsidered in the Senate or be taken up in negotiations with the House over a final bill, he adds.

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