Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated that he could bring a Senate energy bill to the floor next week. S. 1419 is comprised of several, smaller stand-alone energy bills and would mandate biofuel production increases and vehicle mileage. Other sections of the bill focus on energy efficiency and carbon sequestration. The auto industry is planning to attack the increase in the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards in S. 1419. A renewable portfolio standard (RPS) amendment is expected to be offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which would require that distribution utilities provide at least 15% of their power from renewable sources by 2020. His plan would also include a system to trade credits.
Coal advocates are promoting amendments to S. 1419 which would help a domestic coal-to-liquids industry get off the ground. They argue that this fuel could improve domestic fuel supplies and decrease our reliance on foreign oil. Many Democrats argue that CTL is inefficient to produce and pollutes as much or more than gasoline. An amendment to last month's Senate energy markup, which would have mandated production of 21 billion gallons of CTL fuels by 2022, failed. However, in advance of Senate floor debate, a compromise may be underway which would allow the military to purchase CTL fuels in a long-term contract and also provide subsidies to CTL refineries that control carbon dioxide emissions.
Yesterday, Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM) announced that Republicans would offer an alternative Clean Energy Portfolio Standard which would include new nuclear unites and clean coal projects among the list of eligible resources.
Environmental groups are urging adoption of amendments to the biofuels title of the bill to require such fuels to have greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent lower than conventional gasoline. Bingaman has indicated that he is open to making changes to the bill to strengthen environmental safeguards when it is on the floor.