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White House lays out energy ‘framework’ |
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By Jim Snyder
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Posted: 10/17/07 07:45 PM [ET] |
A top White House aide this week offered Congress the “basic framework” for an energy bill that would not “compel the president’s senior advisers to recommend a veto.”
In a letter sent Monday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and committee chairmen, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard indicated there were significant differences between what the White House wants and what separate energy bills passed by the House and Senate would provide. Still, several lobbyists believe a compromise remains possible.
Automakers’ and electric utilities’ lobbying efforts paid off as the administration appears to side with some of their concerns about relevant language in the Senate and House bills.
A Senate measure increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy, for example, would require fleet-wide mileage per gallon increases, for the first time lumping cars and trucks together in an overall average. Automakers have insisted on keeping the two CAFE standards separate, and argue the Senate provision is unreachable.
Hubbard also stressed the new gas target should be “based on sound science, safety and cost-benefit analysis,” echoing industry arguments on CAFE issues.
Electric utilities such as Southern Company also scored a win. Hubbard said the administration remains opposed to a “mandatory Renewable Portfolio Standard.”
Under the RPS crafted by the House, investor-owned utilities would have to get 15 percent of their electricity from wind, solar, biomass and other renewable power sources. Although some utilities support an RPS, utilities in the Southeast have lobbied aggressively to stop a nationwide standard, claiming their area doesn’t have as much access to renewable power sources as do utilities in the Midwest or Southwest.
The administration also would oppose efforts to increase taxes, which could be a significant stumbling block for the legislation. The House version imposes billions of dollars in taxes on the oil and gas industry.
But one oil lobbyist noted the administration was silent on the topic of fees accessed on offshore oil and gas leases, which could represent another potential revenue raiser for Democrats, who want to spend more on developing alternatives to fossil fuels.
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