Extended congressional session may allow more time for energy legislation
By the OGJ Online Staff
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 14 -- Congress may be forced to extend its legislative calendar, which includes consideration of sweeping comprehensive energy proposals, Capitol Hill sources predicted Friday.
Lawmakers had been scheduled to recess in early October. But even before Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York City and outside Washington, DC, House and Senate leaders predicted long fights over domestic spending would delay the end of the session until November.
The events of this past week now could put further strains on the calendar.
Lawmakers were widely expected to quickly pass a $40 billion emergency bill Friday directed toward counter-terrorism and recovery efforts in the two cities. With regard to energy-specific legislative action, the House last month passed its comprehensive bill. A House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing on federal electricity policy was rescheduled for Sept. 20.
In the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has not determined when it will reschedule a markup of its own comprehensive energy bill. Lawmakers were to begin delving into issues surrounding federal authority in electricity wholesale markets Sept. 13.
Unlike the House, the pending Senate bill sponsored by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) considers electricity restructuring as part of an overall energy package. House leaders say they will consider electricity in separate legislation.
Both the House and Senate energy bills include tax incentives for alternative and renewable energy sources as well as measures designed to encourage domestic production.
Some measures are so controversial they may thwart the spirit of congressional camaraderie that has occurred in the aftermath of the attacks.
The Senate, for example, still must debate a highly controversial proposal to let the government lease a portion of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for possible drilling. ANWR supporters will argue that recent events have highlighted the need to secure energy within the US. Opponents to drilling will say ANWR development will not stop dependence on imported oil.
Higher car fuel efficiency standards are also on the table. Debate over that issue will be no less spirited even with the events of the past week, congressional staffers say.
Congress also must complete appropriations bills before new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Two of the spending bills seek to restrict drilling in the Great Lakes and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Given what is expected to be a renewed emphasis on domestic production, there may be an effort to reevaluate those actions before the bills are sent to the White House for approval.
Actual funding levels may also have to change given that Congress plans to devote a much more sizeable portion of the federal budget to national security and defense.