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OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Cantor, House GOP take energy message offshore
State of Play: House Republicans will cap a two-day spree of energy-themed events across the country Friday with a trip by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and several other members to an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
The visit, which will emphasize GOP calls for a major expansion of offshore oil-and-gas leasing, follows a series of events in several states Thursday.
Click here and here for more E2 coverage of the GOP’s recess push on oil-and-gas policy, which is happening as President Obama is ramping up calls for Congress to extend green-energy tax credits.
Obama used a trip to an Iowa wind turbine blade manufacturer Thursday to call for fast action — which isn’t likely — on the extension of a tax credit that’s key to financing new power projects.
NEWS BITES:
Chu in a New York state of mind
Well, upstate New York, anyway. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will visit GE Global Research in Niskayuna, N.Y., on Friday to tour their advanced manufacturing lab.
“Secretary Chu will highlight the economic opportunities in the clean energy economy as well as advanced manufacturing’s potential to save American companies time and money while supporting efficient innovative product engineering and development,” an advisory states.
Hoeven: House can’t pass highway bill without Keystone
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) says there’s an awfully good political reason to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline in a final House-Senate transportation bill: It’s the only option.
Hoeven, a strong backer of building the proposed Alberta-to-Texas pipeline, is among the GOP’s Senate negotiators on the transportation programs funding bill.
He said to reach a final bicameral deal, lawmakers must include Keystone, a measure preventing tough EPA regulation of coal ash (a waste product from power plants) and a plan to steer the bulk of BP oil spill penalties to Gulf Coast states.
“To get a highway bill done, we need all those elements in there,” he said in the Capitol. “You need all these elements in there to get enough people on board to pass it through both the House and the Senate.”
The House version of the bill approves construction of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline; the Senate’s version of the bill does not.
Hoeven said that without adding those elements, lawmakers would likely be forced to simply enact another extension of the current funding. The extension expires at the end of June.
Asked specifically whether the House can pass a bill without Keystone, he replied, “I really think it is a vital element to get the bill passed.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Here's a quick roundup of Thursday's E2 stories:
- Obama presses Congress on wind energy credits
- Obama taps George Mason professor to head nuclear agency
- Worldwide carbon emissions hit record high
- Shell’s Alaskan drilling has DC lobbying roots
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