With the administration of President George W. Bush apparently trying to get as far away from oil and gas as possible while it promotes alternative energy sources, the 109th Congress has assumed the initiative on several issues.
That’s not surprising since there will be an election next November for a third of the Senate and all of the House seats. Members are anxious to show they have been doing something while gasoline prices above $3/gal are fresh in voters’ minds. This led to a contentious Senate committee hearing early in the week and a lively House floor debate on the eve of the Memorial Day recess.
First up was the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s May 23 hearing on gasoline price-gouging allegations. A day earlier, the US Federal Trade Commission issued a report essentially clearing refiners of market manipulation in the weeks following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Our investigation uncovered no evidence indicating that refiners make product output decisions to affect the market price of gasoline,” FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras testified.
‘Business as usual’
Some committee members clearly weren’t satisfied. “This is business as usual from the FTC-this report is a lot of work that says nothing, and the oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank,” Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said before the hearing.
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said afterward that Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alas.) and chief minority member Daniel K. Inouye (D-Ha.) both suggested that the committee take up federal price-gouging legislation, a development she considered positive for consumers.
“The FTC is failing to do its job today. This legislation could help give them an infusion of backbone,” Cantwell suggested. Meanwhile, in the House, the latest bill to authorize oil and gas leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain moved quickly from the Resources Committee to the floor.
Clear differences
Except for some Democrats from producing states and several northeastern Republicans, sentiment generally ran along party lines. Republicans called for more access to domestic resources. Democrats urged measures to increase conservation.
The 2 hr of debate on May 25 had some humorous moments as speakers for each side cited different passages from the same book in the Bible’s Old Testament. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) also compared the Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club with ANWR’s coastal plain-twice.
Generally, however, Republicans said production from ANWR and other domestic sites presently off-limits would have helped keep gasoline prices from rising as high as they did this spring. Democrats responded that more aggressive automotive fuel efficiency requirements would have done more with less environmental impact.
The House finally approved the bill by a 225-201 vote and sent it on to the Senate, where its prospects for survival, once again, aren’t good.
