The Progress Report

September 4, 2008

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers, and Brad Johnson Contact Us | Tell-a-Friend | Archives | Permalink | Subscribe to Feed

ENERGY

Progress, Compromise, or Conservative Obstruction

On Monday, after the national political conventions have ended, Congress will return to Washington. Topping a packed schedule is energy policy, spurred by the pain of a summer of record gas prices. Conservatives have focused on preventing an extension of the moratorium on offshore drilling, which is slated to expire on Sept. 30. By that date Congress must pass, and Bush must sign, a funding resolution for fiscal 2009 to prevent a shutdown of the federal government. Conservatives have threatened such a shutdown if the moratorium is not lifted. The campaign to lift the 26-year moratorium was spurred by former House speaker Newt Gingrich's "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition drive and President Bush's announcement that he would lift the presidential moratorium established by his father. More than $2 million of spending every day by the carbon industry has allowed the right-wing drilling message to dominate the debate -- despite the fact expanding offshore drilling would have no effect on gas prices. The right wing has pinned blame on "Nancy Pelosi , Harry Reid and Barack Obama" -- despite the fact conservatives held complete control of Washington until 2007. Since then, they have obstructed progressive energy legislation with a dozen Senate filibusters and Bush's threatened vetoes.

DRILL DRILL DRILL: The top priorities for petro-industry conservatives are lifting the moratoria on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and oil shale mining, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Despite the emphasis on oil drilling, House conservatives have branded their legislative package an "All of the Above" energy strategy. The "American Energy Act" (H.R. 6566) blasts away limits on drilling and delivers major subsidies to established, polluting industries -- oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear -- with minimal support for renewable energy and efficiency. In the Senate, conservative Democrats and Republicans known as the "Gang of Ten" (now 16) have outlined a compromise that would allow drilling 50 miles of the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida with state approval. It offers new support for liquid coal and nuclear power, but also pays for significant incentives for renewable energy and efficiency by removing some subsidies for the oil and gas industry. This industry-friendly compromise is anathema to right-wing ideologues: Limbaugh called the Gang of Ten proposal "stupidity" and "pandering," and the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel noted in horror, "The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on...oil companies!"

PROGRESSIVE PLAN: Recognizing that "the most important barrel of oil is the one you don't use," progressives in the House are planning to fight back. "Top House Democrats say that shortly after Congress reconvenes," reports E&E News, "they will put on the floor a piece of legislation that will include an expansion of offshore drilling but also a renewable electricity mandate, energy-efficiency standards for buildings and oil industry tax provisions." The plan, drawing from clean energy proposals introduced by Reps. Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Todd Platts (R-PA), and others, is for "a political reverse takedown on the Republicans," according to Markey. Former Clinton administration official David Sandalow told E&E News: "We'll see whether the proponents of all of the above can take yes for an answer." The elements of the plan -- a national renewable electricity standard, building efficiency standards, and removal of oil tax subsidies -- would spur jobs, reduce energy bills, and drive innovation for the future. These provisions have repeatedly passed the House since progressives gained leadership but have died to conservative filibusters in the Senate. House conservatives will fight any proposal that places any limits on Big Oil. Scoffing at the bipartisan and progressive plans, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told the Politico, "So far there is no real proposal out there that has anything to do with really looking for oil and natural gas." Conservative leaders want to block any energy bill, even if it includes major concessions to Big Oil, because that would deprive them of their ability to keep making political points.

OUTSIDE ADVOCACY: As Congress has less than a month to forge compromise, progressives and polluters are pushing competing priorities. A renewable electricity standard reflects Al Gore's We Campaign's call for 100 percent renewable electricity in ten years. Drilling provisions respond to the pressure from Newt Gingrich's right-wing American Solutions For Winning the Future (ASWF). Oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has called for new grid development, permanent tax incentives for wind and solar, and incentives for natural-gas vehicles. And further coal technology subsidies have been a top goal of the coal industry's American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). The battle between polluter and clean energy interests will be fully engaged this September. In fact, Sept. 27 -- the day after the first presidential debate and near the government shutdown deadline -- will see major rallies from both sides. ASWF, fueled by right-wing billionaires and polluters, is releasing a book and a movie to promote "Solutions Day." That same day, Green For All, the We Campaign, and 1Sky -- with the proud support of the Center for American Progress Action Fund -- are organizing a national day of action for Green Jobs Now. CAP Senior Fellow Van Jones, director of Green For All, describes the choice: "[Gingrich's] answers: more pollution; our answers: more solutions."