Bush administration official says energy bill needs separate debate

Mitchell Daniels, director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Tuesday said energy reform legislation should be considered on its own merits and not attached to pending economic stimulus legislation.

Nov. 13, 2001

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 13 -- Mitchell Daniels, director of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Tuesday said energy reform legislation should be considered on its own merits and not attached to pending economic stimulus legislation.

Daniels, in a talk before the Natural Gas Roundtable, said the energy bill that the House of Representatives passed in August was "not as balanced" as President George W. Bush's energy policy recommendations, but nevertheless was a good starting point.

The administration has objected to provisions in the House legislation that would offer $8 billion in tax incentives to boost domestic energy production.

The Senate has been stalemated on energy legislation. One of the options that Republicans have proposed is to attach the energy legislation to the pending economic stimulus bill.

Daniels said for an economic stimulus bill to pass, it could not be loaded with some of the controversial proposals being recommended by both Republicans and Democrats. "We have to get back to centrist ideas."

He deflected a question on whether the White House would accept an energy bill that did not include a controversial proposal to allow exploration on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area east of Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska that industry considers to have great potential for oil and gas.

Daniels said simply, "ANWR ought to happen and is central to an energy bill."