Dems’ call for quick action on oil spill draws Republican reproach

House and Senate Democrats want quick action on oil spill response legislation rolled out this week, but Republicans complain they’re being force-fed bills the majority wants only to exploit politically during the August break.

Both chambers intend to vote on a package of initiatives — to strengthen safety standards for offshore rigs, add federal oversight of oil and gas production and raise companies’ liability for damages in spills — before lawmakers leave for the summer recess.

But they will not have time to reconcile differences between the bills and send a new one to President Obama for his signature, probably until the fall.

Both the House and Senate measures incorporate provisions broadly supported in both parties but also some that Republicans complain go too far, leading to GOP complaints that politics is trumping policy.

“We’re talking about issues that have very direct and immediate impact to a crisis that continues to unfold in the Gulf, and we’re going to maybe be given two to three days to debate, discuss and pass this?” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told The Hill. “Yeah, I’m suspicious. I am concerned that it’s more message than providing the real help that the people in the Gulf need.”

“This is looking more and more that this may end up being a political exercise rather than a real desire to legislate on an important topic,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “I know this is a very confusing time because they’ve gotten themselves in a box, spending so much time passing an unpopular healthcare bill that there’s very little time for anything else.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) blamed Republicans.

“The Republicans have been blocking us on everything every step of the way, we’re just trying to get as much done as we can,” she said.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the House plan would not make headway in the Senate and accused Democratic leaders of playing “gotcha politics.” He said the House should pass a more limited plan endorsed unanimously by the Energy and Commerce Committee, rather than the broader bill that includes much of what the Natural Resources Committee approved on a largely party-line vote.

“By taking that course rather than accepting a bill that clearly had bipartisan support … they certainly risk getting nothing done in the waning weeks of this Congress,” said Upton, the senior Republican on the Energy and Environment subcommittee.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week abandoned plans to move a broader climate and energy package before the recess to better his odds of getting a spill response bill through the chamber even with limited GOP backing.

Some Republicans suspect this limited spill-and-energy strategy opens the door for Democrats later to inject a highly controversial cap-and-trade plan — like the one the House passed last year — for at least power plants.

“They’ve said as much,” Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) said. “They’re not being very … secretive” about that.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested that possibility himself on Tuesday.

“Once a bill passes each house, it doesn’t close the door to having some sort of conference,” he reminded reporters at the daily briefing.

Senate Republicans think they can win the messaging war this summer.

Last week, they introduced an alternative spill response strategy that, among other things, allows the president to set the liability limits for companies and lifts a temporary suspension of deepwater offshore drilling for firms that meet Interior Department safety requirements.

“I think that demonstrates our seriousness and wanting to deal with not only the causes of the spill but also the cleanup and the consequences for the Gulf Coast and for the country,” Cornyn said.

The Senate Democrats’ bill would retroactively lift a $75 million spill liability cap for oil and gas producers — leaving no cap at all. That unlimited liability “will be a very significant issue, not just for Republicans,” Murkowski said.

Critics say insurance would effectively price small and midsize companies out of drilling in the Gulf because it would become too expensive.

“The issue is how high to raise it … and not putting the whole industry out of business,” Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said.

Liberal Democrats, while likely to support it, have little enthusiasm for a limited spill-and-energy plan that falls far short of what they had hoped would be a broad bill addressing both energy and climate change.

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of excitement about it,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) said. “But at the end of the day, we need to be realists, and at the end of the day we have to decide it’s better to get something done than nothing.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called the bill a “terrible disappointment.” While some of its components are positive, he said, “It doesn’t go anywhere near where we have to go to transform our energy system, cut back on greenhouse gas emissions and create the millions of jobs over a period of time that we can create.”
 
Ben Geman and Sam Youngman contributed to this article.

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