The war in Iraq and this summer's massive power grid blackout in the Northeast should have focused the debate over energy policy on the need to manage supplies and reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuel. But instead of taking a thoughtful, bipartisan approach, congressional Republicans have crafted an energy bill that is little more than a barrel of favors for special interests. There is not much to like in the huge bill, which passed the House on Tuesday and is now being debated in the Senate. Congress should scrap it and start over.
Any broad reshaping of national energy policy should have among its goals curbing consumption, exploring new and renewable energy sources and protecting the environment.
But the plan by congressional Republicans, which the Bush administration supports, focuses primarily on increasing domestic energy production. Conservation, for the most part, is ignored. The bill would give power companies a larger role in the management of the nation's power system, and polluters would receive added protection from the people and communities they harm.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calls the plan "the no lobbyist left behind" bill. And no wonder. It is laced with hundreds of provisions sought by lobbyists for energy companies, farm groups and other special interests. The package includes tax breaks and other incentives aimed at encouraging domestic oil and gas production. Most of the tax breaks would go to coal, oil and gas producers and would add $23.5-billion to the budget deficit over the next 10 years. Only $8-billion has been set aside to promote conservation and energy efficiency in buildings, cars and appliances.
How does such a lopsided giveaway serve the nation's interests? The government has legitimate reasons to provide corporate subsidies and tax breaks, provided the investment is part of a comprehensive strategy to move the nation closer to self-sufficiency. Even industry supporters admit the bill would do little to wean America from foreign oil. That's because lawmakers refuse to confront America's consumption problem. The bill does not require auto manufacturers to make cars and trucks more fuel-efficient (even China is preparing to impose fuel efficiency standards on new cars for the first time). Corn farmers get even bigger subsidies for ethanol, a program that is both a fraud and a scandal. About $1-billion is set aside for beach restoration (we're not sure how that fits into an energy policy). The measure also provides liability protection to the producers of MTBE, a gasoline additive that has contaminated drinking water supplies. Spending on renewable energy and other conservation projects is negligible. While Republicans were forced to drop their plans to allow energy exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they did manage to turn back other efficiency and environmental measures.
The Republicans did a good job of buying off the bill's Democratic critics with tax breaks for major employers in key states and congressional districts. But beyond turning the power companies loose, the legislation does little to reverse America's reliance on imported oil, and it doesn't go far or fast enough toward establishing strong national management of the country's fragmented grid system.
Congress should be ashamed to try to sell this legislation as a serious energy policy. It is little more than an early Christmas gift to big energy companies. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., got it right when he said this bill would "do about as much to improve the nation's energy security as the administration's invasion of Iraq has done to stem the tide of global terrorism."
