Congressional Schedule The House and Senate schedules are very fluid, as Congress works to complete a number of "must-pass" bills including the energy bill, the farm bill, a number of appropriations bills, as well as an extension of the continuing resolution (CR), before adjourning. The current CR expires on Friday, December 14. Another CR is expected to pass later this week, but its duration is yet to be decided by the House and Senate Leadership.
Energy Bill Update; Senate to Modify and Reconsider Bill
On Thursday, December 6, by a vote of 235-181, the House passed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR 6), largely along party lines. The bill was, largely, the product of negotiations between Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.
Shortly thereafter, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) on the bill, which said the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto it in its current form because it includes a 15% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and a $21 billion tax title that repeals $13 billion in incentives for the oil and gas industries.
On Friday, Dec. 7th, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) brought H.R. 6 to the Senate floor and moved to end debate (i.e. seek "cloture"). The cloture motion, which requires 60 votes for adoption, failed by a vote of 53-42. The objection to moving forward on consideration of H.R. 6 was primarily from Senators who opposed the RPS and tax title in the bill. All New England Democrats voted in support of the cloture motion, along with Maine's two Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Sens. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and John Sununu (R-NH) voted against the cloture motion.
As a result, the Senate is currently working to modify the House-passed "energy independence" bill, and secure enough votes to pass the Senate later this week. Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Ranking member Pete Domenici (R-NM) have vowed to work together to develop a bill that can pass the Senate and be signed by the President. Exactly what changes, other than dropping the RPS, will have to be made to secure the support of 60 senators is unclear at this time.
With regard to the $21 billion energy tax title, staff to the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), said yesterday that they plan to make at least two modifications to the energy tax title. Those changes are: (1) stripping the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirement out of the Clean Renewable Energy Bond (CREB) provisions; and (2) allowing transmission facilities to qualify for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC). According to staff, Sen. Grassley will support keeping the tax title in the final energy bill (including the $13 billion in oil and gas offsets). The White House, however, has expressed opposition to the offsets, expressing concern about raising taxes and targeting the oil and gas industry.
If a revised bill garners the votes needed to pass the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for consideration. The House will have two choices -- either accept the modified Senate bill (Members cannot further amend it), or allow the bill to die in the House. Even if they choose the former, it is still unclear if the White House will support the measure.
To review a copy of H.R. 6, as passed the House please use the following link:
http://www.appanet.org/files/PDFs/House%20Amdts%20to%20Senate%20Amdts%20(HR%206).pdf
Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill Passes out of Committee
On December 5, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee passed
S. 2191, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA), by a vote of 11-8. The only Republican to vote in favor of the bill was its cosponsor, Sen. Warner.
The bill would establish a federal program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 63% by 2050. Under the program, the EPA would allocate emissions allowances to electric power, transportation and manufacturing sources.
Prior to committee action, Chairman Boxer made modifications to the bill that added an "upstream" cap on GHG emissions from natural gas processors, which means more than 80% of the GHG emissions that come from the U.S. will be covered under the legislation. In addition, the free emission credits given out to power plants manufacturers and other industrial sources will end in 2031, not 2036 as in the subcommittee-approved version.
The bill also aims to create a compromise between coal and non-coal states by allocating 19 percent of 2020 allowances to "covered facilities" based on historic emissions and allocating another ten percent of 2020 allowances to "load-serving entities" based on retail sales.
During the markup, over 100 were amendments filed, but fewer were actually considered. The amendments that were approved include:
- An amendment from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would create a low-carbon fuel standard for motor vehicles;
- An amendment from Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) that would add nuclear energy to the agenda of the National Academy of Sciences to study how the legislation promotes low-and zero-carbon energy technologies;
- Two amendments from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) that would allow coastal states to use their emission allowance funds to plan for the effects of global warming;
- A Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) amendment that would give states flexibility in how they use their allowance funds to address the economic effects of climate change and the bill's new regulatory requirements;
- Two amendments by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ): one that would authorize a study of U.S. aviation emissions and another that would give more emission allowances to utilities that encourage and/or reward consumers who use less energy.
- A Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) amendment to allow states to use allowances to increase recycling; and
- A Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) amendment that would give U.S. manufacturers financial incentives to create low-and zero-carbon energy technologies.
The bill will not move to the Senate floor until sometime next year. It is anticipated that Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) will filibuster the bill and, despite claims by Sen. Lieberman that the bill is close to having the 60 votes required to ensure passage, he does not appear to have the votes at this time.
Even if the bill were to pass in the Senate next year, it still faces a long road ahead. The House has not yet began to craft a climate bill and President Bush would likely veto any bill that includes mandatory emissions controls.