As she promised in January, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced a wide-ranging energy legislation package on June 28. “With confidence in American ingenuity and high faith in our future, we Democrats declare America’s independence from foreign oil,” she said at a press conference with Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and several committee chairmen.
Pelosi said House Democrats will return from their Independence Day recess prepared to debate bills that would invest heavily in biofuels and renewable energy sources, increase energy efficiency, press the Bush administration to combat climate change, and create “good green” jobs.
Critics said provisions that would substantially increase domestic energy production were missing from the package. Rep. John E. Peterson (R-Pa.) called independence from foreign oil “a worthwhile goal but far from realistic under this plan.” He reintroduced a bill to increase gas production from the Outer Continental Shelf earlier in the week.
Pelosi’s proposal, Peterson declared, “will make us more dependent on foreign countries for our energy, as she and much of this majority are rabidly opposed to any domestic energy production.”
‘Blue Dog’ ideas
Two groups outside Congress said proposals offered by the Blue Dog Coalition of 47 House Democrats on June 27 were better than Pelosi’s.
National Association of Manufacturers Pres. John Engler called them a welcome “break from the usual rhetoric.” And Independent Petroleum Association of America Pres. Barry Russell suggested that the Blue Dog Coalition “should steer the majority ship when it comes to crafting a substantive and comprehensive energy policy.”
The fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition of Democrats was formed in 1995 with an aim of representing the House’s political center. Its core beliefs include a commitment to US financial stability and national security, according to a statement at the group’s web site.
Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah and Charlie Melancon of Louisiana, both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, cochaired the Blue Dog Energy Task Force, which produced the eight principles dealing with energy production, climate change, fuel diversity, and technology development.
Matheson said the first principle applies the “pay as you go” concept to domestic energy. “America’s energy policy cannot depend solely on a future technological breakthrough. We have diverse energy resources in America today, and we can’t discard any of them. Until technology catches up, a reliable supply of conventional fuels is essential for our economy,” he explained.
The principle states that US energy policy should not reduce access to domestic resources, domestic infrastructure, or incentives for domestic production unless there is a corresponding initiative to replace lost capabilities.
While renewable resources are increasingly contributing to energy supply, the Blue Dog Coalition considers oil, gas, coal, nuclear power, and other traditional sources key components of US energy supply.
‘Reliable supply’
“In the long run, alternative fuels will provide a significant contribution to our country’s energy profile,” the group says. “Until that takes place, a reliable supply of conventional fuels will be important for our economy, and policies should be directed toward maintaining domestic conventional energy capabilities.”
Other group principles address climate change (which the Blue Dogs believe should be handled with predictable long-term policies that don’t disproportionately affect one industry or sector) and fuel diversity (which the group says should include biofuels, coal, geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, oil, and gas).
Heavy US reliance on foreign petroleum suppliers contributes to the country’s balance of payments and distorts foreign policy by encouraging energy development in unstable regions, according to the Blue Dogs. They consider encouraging domestic exploration and production of petroleum “a responsible component of a national energy policy.”
The group also considers renewable energy “the key to long-term energy security” and recommends that the federal government invest substantially to help develop wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells, and other sustainable energy technologies. “Congress should also extend the wind energy production tax credit to provide greater long-term market certainty,” it says.
The Blue Dogs also call for consistent and transparent federal energy policies; keeping energy affordable with consistent rates and access to supplies; encouraging investments in electricity transmission systems, distributed generation, and a more efficient grid; promoting development of cleaner technologies with substantial federal investments in research; and encouraging adoption of more-efficient technologies to reduce consumption.
Support for principles
NAM’s Engler said the Blue Dog Coalition’s energy principles are “highly consistent” with his association’s energy and economic security plan, which also supports domestic energy production, diversity, and technology development.
“When you restrict the domestic supply, it’s only logical that prices will go up. Continuing down this path is not just bad policy, it’s bad economics,” he said.
IPAA’s Russell said oil and gas currently represent about 65% of total US energy supplies and will continue to be significant as domestic demand grows by 30% by 2030. “Legislation that reduces the ability of American oil and gas producers to invest in the United States means higher costs for consumers and more dependence on foreign, often unstable, supplies. National energy policy needs to expand all of our energy resources, not pit one against another,” he said.
Policies that support steady additions to domestic energy supplies are essential, American Petroleum Institute Pres. Red Cavaney said in a June 29 letter to members of the 110th Congress. “These policies ought to encourage development of every viable form of energy and more efficient use of each of them. However, an ‘either-or’ policy-one that favors alternative energy at the expense of oil and natural gas-is short-sighted and could end up harming both consumers and the economy,” he said.
Two days before Pelosi’s announcement, the House voted to renew a 26-year-old moratorium on new federal oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and make it part of the US Department of Interior’s fiscal 2008 budget.
