Energy Bill for Renewable Energy Sources

Energy Bill for Renewable Energy Sources

Aug. 2007  - In a rare Saturday session, the 
U.S. House of Representatives approved a far-reaching energy bill that 
increases federal support for energy conservation and efficiency programs 
and requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from 
renewable energy sources. The House also passed a companion tax package, 
which would divert $15.3 billion in new taxes on oil and natural gas 
producers toward increased investment in renewable energy and 
conservation. 
The approval of the two energy bills is a major victory for House Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi, who has made energy policy a centerpiece of her legislative 
agenda, and was widely praised by U.S. environmental groups.

      House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  
Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the legislation provides a "new 
direction for the nation’s energy policy" and promised future efforts to 
further revamp energy policy and address global warming. 
"This is just the ambitious first phase in what will be a series of 
revolutionary actions for energy independence," Pelosi said. "But it is a 
very serious first step." 
But the legislation has a long way to go before it is enacted into law and 
the Bush administration has already threatened to veto the measure. 
In a statement issued last week, the White House criticized the House 
energy package, saying the two bills are "not serious attempts to increase 
our energy security or address high energy costs." 
The statement said the House bills would reduce domestic oil and gas 
production, make the nation more dependent on foreign energy sources and 
unfairly target the oil and gas industries with higher taxes. 
The House also still must reconcile its legislation with the Senate energy 
bill. Although many of the provisions are similar, forging a compromise 
with could prove difficult. 
The Senate failed to approve a companion tax package and its energy bill 
has several key differences compared to the House bill - notably the 
inclusion of a mandated 40 percent increase in the fuel economy standards 
and a sevenfold increase in ethanol use. Neither provision is in the House 
bill.


Another potential roadblock is the House requirement for a national 
renewable electricity standard. 
The Senate rejected the provision, with Democrats from Southern states 
joining Republicans over concerns that their states lack the renewable 
resources needed to meet the standard. 
A similar regional battle erupted in the House over the plan, which was 
added Saturday as an amendment to the bill by a vote of 220-190. 
The House provision calls for a 15 percent standard to be met by 2020, 
with utilities required to get at least 11 percent from renewable sources 
and allowed to obtain four percent through energy efficiency measures. 
More than 20 states have similar standards in place or under development, 
but proponents say a federal standard is needed to rapidly drive increased 
use of renewable energy. 
Currently less than three percent of the nation’s energy comes from wind, 
solar and other renewable energy sources. 
Critics said the standard would cause undue economic harm to states 
without capacity for wind or solar energy. 
The standard is "essentially an electricity tax" on utilities and their 
consumers, said Representative Dan Boren, a Democrat from Oklahoma, an oil 
producing state.

"Congress needs to recognize there are significant regional differences in 
the availability, amounts and types of renewable energy resources in 
different regions of the country," Boren said. 
"This isn't a question of whether or not we should encourage states to 
produce more electricity from renewable sources - we should," added 
Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat. The question is whether a 
one-size-fits-all federal mandate is the best way to accomplish this 
goal." 
Proponents said the standard was in fact quite modest and argued that 
emerging renewable energy sources, particularly biomass, are available to 
every state in the nation. 
"There is no state that does not have opportunities for renewable energy," 
said Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat. 
Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, told 
colleagues the goal is one the nation can easily meet by 2020.

"We need to set this goal and then strive every day to reach it," Shays 
said. "And it is not as hard as the opponents would have us believe." 
In addition to the renewable electricity standard, the massive bill 
approved Saturday includes new efficiency standards for appliances, 
lighting and buildings as well as tax breaks and subsidies for plug-in 
hybrid cars. 
The measure contains tax credits for installing ethanol pumps at gas 
stations, support for development of cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel, and 
funds to study carbon sequestration. 
It also calls on the federal government to be carbon neutral by 2050 and 
asks the White House to re-engage in international climate change talks 
and to accept binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. 
The House approved the bill by a vote of 241-172, despite Republican 
objections that it does little to boost domestic production of oil, 
natural gas, coal or nuclear and will fail to reduce gasoline prices. 
"It doesn't do a thing about producing one drop of energy," said 
Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. "It does not get 
the price down at the pump." 
  
Republicans, along with a handful of Democrats from oil producing states, 
weighed in with similar criticism of the companion tax bill.
"You don't increase America's energy independence by raising taxes on our 
domestic energy industry," said Representative Jim McCrery, a Louisiana 
Republican. 
The measure repeals tax breaks and subsidies granted to the oil and gas 
industry and earmarks those funds for renewable energy and conservation, 
including $6 billion in tax credit bonds for state and local "green energy 
projects." 
Representative Pete Stark, a California Democrat, said the tax bill ends 
"senseless tax breaks and subsidies for giant oil and gas companies and 
[makes] needed investments in clean energy and efficiency." 
At the end of the day, House lawmakers voted 221-189 to pass the companion 
tax package. 

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