Posted on 11/27/2001 9:15:06 AM PST by finnman69
Energy Bill Saved For Next Year
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate action on energy legislation, and a likely confrontation over whether to allow oil drilling in an Arctic wildlife refuge, is being put off until early next year.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Tuesday he is committed to bringing an energy bill up for floor debate within the first weeks after Congress returns in January.
Daschle has said that other pressing matters such as economic recovery, national security in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and remaining government spending bills, leave no time to deal with energy this year.
It is ``not only my expectation, but my commitment that we will take the bill up during that first work period'' next year, meaning before the Senate's recess for Presidents' Day in mid-February.
Congress is expected to recess in mid-December and return in January.
Senate Republicans have accused Daschle of blocking consideration of energy legislation to avoid a heated debate over development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. A number of Democrats have vowed to filibuster any attempt to open the refuge to oil companies, which has been a key element of President Bush's domestic energy development strategy.
``It's a great concern to me and a number of senators that we are not going to be able to consider energy policy for our country before the end of the year, especially in view of the fact that we see now continuing uncertainty about what is going to be done by OPEC countries,'' said GOP leader Trent Lott of Mississippi.
Republicans have argued that legislation is needed to spur domestic energy development and ease U.S. reliance on oil imports including those from the Persian Gulf. Democrats have maintained that most of the provisions in an energy bill will be aimed at long-term measures and should not be rushed through in the final weeks of the session.
Amid talk of an energy crisis, the House last summer passed a fairly broad energy bill. But its plans to follow with a series of measures aimed specifically at the electricity industry, a key part of a comprehensive energy blueprint, were sidetracked by the events of Sept. 11.
Since then, energy prices across the board from oil and natural gas to gasoline and electric power have declined dramatically with plenty of supplies, easing the crisis atmosphere that prevailed less than a year ago.
Actually, this can be done. There is plenty of coal for a long time. DOE has done a lot of excellent research already on this, pilot plants and processes. I am not a fan of DOE, but they have done this.
Distortions of regulations. Oil prices skyrocketed in 1973. Govt response: Price controls + CAFE standards to reduce dependence on foreign oil, conserve energy. We would have been better off if we would have just let prices rise, would have forced conservation, fuel efficiency, etc. without the regulations. Higher oil prices would have been more effective than regulations.
Secondary effect of CAFE: smaller cars, more traffic fatalities.
CAFE standards have NOT reduced oil consumption over time. Reason: regulations are distortionary, like taxes, BECAUSE THEY CAN BE AVOIDED.
1. As a result of CAFE, new large cars are more expensive since companies produced fewer. People with old large cars who wanted a large car, would keep their cars longer, drive them longer, use more gas, pollute more.
2. More small cars were produced, prices were cheaper, resulting in more cars being purchased, increasing the total number of cars. More smaller cars led to more gas consumption, not less.
3. Car companies shifted to SUVs (classified as trucks, not cars) as a way to circumvent CAFE, resulting in more, larger fuel-inefficient vehicles, MORE gas consumption, not LESS.
I think it was Jefferson who said that Government was the worst way to do anything. I have to concur with his wisdom.
Throw this traitor in jail for treason, then go after the voters in South Dakota who keep voting for him and then throw them in jail, too. Then kick the Repubican butts for being such push-overs.
Bush has conducted himself great except for one area. He needs to stomp on the dems for blocking this. It would take 2 square miles of drilling to equal 30 years of Saudi (terrorist appeasers) oil.
If the American people knew this (were expalined the circumtstances) they would hate Daschle and the rest of the rats.
The "new tone" strategy has got to go.
Sounds like Gov. "Brownout" Davis in California about a year ago.
Funny (strange not "ha-ha") that Daschle doesn't feel domestic oil production and national security don't go hand-in-hand.
Ask the people of Utah.
Apparently it can. It seems to require a vote to overide an EO,
just like it takes to overide a veto.
These people are so out to lunch that they may actually think they are helping, rather than hurting themselves.
I hope South Dakota does.
Why is it that with you totalitarians conservation is equated with centralized command government control. Repeatedly the EPA the DOE and other government agencies have sabotaged or diverted attention from, rather then promoted, enabled or enhanced, new technology that would conserve energy but would in the process lessent the role of centralized command government. As a general rule the federal government in particular has shown no interest in conservation that does not equate to centralized command governmental control. They count heavily on those totalitarian thinkers such as yourself who also equate the two.
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