Four more Republicans abandon Pickens natural-gas bill

Four more House Republicans on Monday withdrew their support for bipartisan legislation that would provide billions of dollars in tax credits to boost deployment of natural-gas-powered trucks.

The bill — which billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens is promoting — is under attack from several conservative groups that allege it represents government meddling in energy markets.

Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) and Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) yanked their sponsorship Monday, according to the legislative information page maintained by the Library of Congress. They join four other GOP members who have backed off the bill in recent weeks.

But the bill has also picked up over a dozen new co-sponsors in roughly the last month, drawn from both parties — Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) signed on Monday as the latest backers — and has 188 total co-sponsors.

The plan’s principal sponsors — led by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) — say the bill can help wean the country off reliance on oil imports by expanding use of domestic natural gas in vehicles.

Groups opposing the bill include Americans for Prosperity, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation.

Heritage Action for America — which is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation — praised the four GOP lawmakers who ditched the bill Monday.

“Now is the time to end market-distorting energy subsidies, not create new ones. Kudos to these representatives for rejecting this failed, big-government approach,” said Michael Needham, the group’s CEO, on its website Tuesday.

The campaign against the bill recently led Pickens to go on the attack against Koch Industries, the company helmed by billionaire brothers active in conservative causes.