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Environmental groups lobbied to sweeten the bitter pill of offshore drilling, automakers looked for a legislative vehicle that would carry billions in federal loans to help them retool, and K Street faced life without two well-paying clients: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Lawmakers returned to Washington this week after a month-long hiatus. The August recess can be and often is a sleepy time in Washington — but not this year. There is much to do in September and little time to do it, as lawmakers will be leaving again in three weeks to hit the campaign trail.
Lobbyists expected much of the first week to be dedicated to drilling, as Democrats in the House and Senate continued to work Monday to find a compromise that would open up some new areas to oil and gas companies but also promote renewable energy development.
Acknowledging the tide on the offshore debate may have turned against them, environmental groups tried to make the best of a bad situation.
“If they are going to do something we don’t like, it should be weighted heavily with something we do like on clean energy and renewables,” said Athan Manuel, director of lands protection for the Sierra Club.
For the Sierra Club, that means inclusion of a renewable electricity standard that would require utilities to produce a certain amount of their power by using renewable energy sources.
The groups also hold out hope that a package of tax credits fueling a solar and wind industry boom will be extended beyond its expiration date later this year.
It’s a delicate balance, because environmental groups, even in their weakened position, still can call on dozens of lawmakers to reject legislation they think goes too far. Republicans and some conservative Democrats may balk if they think the drilling bill is pro-production in name only.
Michael Gravitz, oceans advocate for Environment America, said his group was also pushing for new standards for buildings that would cut the amount of energy they consume, and therefore the amount of greenhouse gases produced to cool buildings in the summer or warm them in the winter.
A long-shot hope was language that would effectively direct federal regulators to speed up the deadline for automakers to meet fuel efficiency standards.
“If you really want quicker energy savings, that has got to be part of it,” Gravitz said.
Environment America and the Sierra Club estimate that if the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) moved the fuel standard deadline from 2020 to 2015, it would save 22 billion gallons of gasoline over five years. NHTSA is responsible for regulating the corporate average fuel efficiency standard.
Proposals like a renewable electricity standard or the repeal of tax credits oil and gas companies now get, another potential component of a Democratic-crafted energy package, could engender opposition from Republicans.
At press time, Democrats had not yet released their energy package. One Democratic energy lobbyist said leaders were discussing opening areas 100 miles off the coastlines of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and in additional areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
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