Bush-backed energy bill gains support in Louisiana

New Orleans CityBusiness, Feb 14, 2005 by Richard Slawsky

President Bush, in renewing his pitch for an energy bill during his State of the Union address, said the country needs reliable supplies of affordable, environmentally responsible energy to fuel the economy.

Nearly four years ago, I submitted a comprehensive energy strategy that encourages conservation, alternative sources, a modernized electricity grid and more production here at home, including safe, clean nuclear energy, Bush said. Four years of debate is enough - I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy.

Previous attempts to pass energy legislation have passed in the House before being derailed in the Senate. This year, however, Republicans have a five-seat majority in the Senate, which makes passing a bill more likely.

Both Louisiana's freshmen congressmen sit on the U.S. House of Representatives Resources Committee, which is responsible for drafting the House version of the energy bill.

I anticipate we will actually be marking up the energy bill in the next several days, said Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, who sits on the Resources Committee along with Rep. Charles Melancon, D- Napoleonville.

Obviously, we will have two opportunities from Louisiana to provide some input, said Jindal. This bill is not only important for Louisiana, it's important for our country.

House Republicans are already circulating a draft energy bill similar to one they passed last year. House leaders expect to vote on the bill in March.

I didn't expect it to come that quickly but it looks like the leadership and the majority wants to move it and get it out of the House and put the pressure on the Senate to get an energy bill out, Melancon said.

In the Senate, Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, plans to unveil a bill after the Easter recess. The energy legislation appears to have some bipartisan support in the Senate.

I agree with the president's call in the State of the Union for increased energy independence and conservation, said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans. Our country can and should produce more energy at home.

Some of the issues that doomed previous energy legislation remain unresolved.

For example, liability limits for makers of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, which is blamed for groundwater contamination in all 50 states, will most likely appear in the House bill. Senate leaders have said the MTBE provision will not appear in the Senate version of the bill.

Cleaning up MTBE contamination is estimated to cost nearly $30 billion nationwide.

Also, senators are promising to limit the cost of the bill by limiting money for coastal restoration efforts and royalty relief for ultra-deepwater drilling. Louisiana officials have been calling for the federal government to return a larger share of royalties for offshore oil and gas drilling.

As the top state in oil production and second in natural gas production, Louisiana has and continues to play a significant role in producing energy for the entire nation, Landrieu said. It is long past due for the federal government to recognize this contribution.

In a Feb. 8 speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Bush reiterated his support for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil and gas exploration. While Democrats generally oppose drilling in the Alaskan wildlife reserve, many Republicans favor it.

We are talking about, for an area of 20 million acres, conducting exploration on about 2,000 of those acres, Jindal said. Given the new technologies I think it is something that can be done in an environmentally friendly and sensitive way.

Critics say reducing dependence on foreign energy sources means focusing on renewable energy sources. Even if the president's plan passes, they say, oil and gas imports will rise for the next 20 years.

The president is urging Congress to pass an energy bill and the whole point is to make America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy, said Navin Nayak, environmental advocate for the Washington, D.C.-based U.S Public Interest Research Group. But according to his own agency, the Department of Energy, U.S. imports of foreign oil will increase by 85 percent by 2025. If anything you would think they would pass an energy bill that would make us less dependent on foreign oil.

Tax credits for renewable energy sources should be extended from one year to five or six years, Nayak said. A nationwide standard for renewable energy production is also needed, he said.

Right now we get about 2 percent of our electricity from renewables like wind, solar, geothermal or clean biomass, and that could be greatly expanded, Nayak said. Eighteen states have already passed a renewable energy standard, which requires that a certain percentage of electricity production comes from renewables. That hasn't yet been part of the energy bill.