Cross-posted from Gristmill.
With gas prices now averaging a record $4.04 a
gallon
in the United States, the Senate voted on two
bills
Tuesday that would have revoked tax breaks for Big Oil and extended tax
credits to renewable energy. Proponents of the two measures touted them
as vital for consumer relief and transition to new energy sources, but
both measures failed to muster the 60 votes needed to proceed.
The first vote, on the Consumer First Energy Act (S. 3044), fell short
of cloture by a vote of
51-43.
The second, on the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (H.R.
6049), failed by a vote of
50-44.
Both votes fell largely along party lines.
The Consumer First Energy Act
The Consumer First Energy Act would have levied a 25 percent tax on
“windfall profits” of major oil companies, the proceeds of which would
be invested in the Energy Independence and Security Act Trust Fund.
Companies could avoid the tax by investing in renewable energy.
“It will force the oil companies to do something to help us get out of
this mess instead of just profiting from it,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y.) on the floor shortly before the vote.
The bill would also repeal tax breaks for major oil and gas companies,
estimated at a value of $17 billion over the next 10 years, and suspend
filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the end of 2008.
There were measures to discourage “price gouging” and limit speculation
in oil markets. The bill would also call for a
NOPEC policy (clever acronym alert: “No Oil
Producing and Exporting Cartels”). This would crack down on the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by amending
anti-trust laws and allowing the U.S. Attorney General to take legal
action against countries and companies. Currently, a court ruling from
1979 gives OPEC members immunity in U.S.
courts.
Republican leaders spoke on the floor in favor of expanding domestic oil
drilling in places like the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge as a
solution to gas-price woes rather than measures to move toward renewable
energy sources. “This bill isn’t a serious response to high gas prices.
It’s just a gimmick,” said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“Republicans are determined to lower gas prices the only way we can:
increasing supply.”
But proponents of the bill were adamant that the only way to bring down
the costs of oil in the long term is to curb the country’s dependence on
the fossil fuel. “We are in an oil crisis, and we better start taking
action to get out of this mess,” said Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). “Feeding
that addiction by tapping another vein just drills us into a deeper
hole.”
Democratic leaders pointed out that Republicans wanted to talk about
gas prices last
week, when a climate change bill was on the
floor, but when a
bill addressing the underlying causes of high gas prices came up,
Republicans refused to let it proceed.
“Last week they wanted to make global warming legislation about gas
prices,” said Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “When they have the
chance to vote on it, they walk away.”
Six Republicans – Norm Coleman (Minn.), Susan Collins (Maine), Chuck
Grassley (Iowa), Gordon Smith (Ore.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and John
Warner (Va.) – voted in favor of moving to debate on the proposed
legislation. Democrat Mary Landrieu (La.) voted against it (as did Reid,
but his was a procedural move to ensure that he can bring the bill to
the floor again in the future).
The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act
The second bill, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, was
the Senate partner to the tax-extenders legislation that passed in the
House last
month. The $54 billion package would have extended tax breaks for
renewable energy that are set to expire at the end of this year. It
includes a six-year extension of the investment tax credit for solar
energy; a three-year extension of the production tax credit for biomass,
geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, and solid waste; and a one-year
extension of the production tax credit for wind energy. The bill also
has incentives for the production of renewable fuels such as biodiesel
and cellulosic biofuels, incentives for companies that produce
energy-efficient products, and incentives to improve efficiency in
commercial and residential buildings. Funding for the tax credits would
come from closing loopholes for hedge-fund managers and multinational
corporations.
Republicans Smith, Snowe, and Bob Corker (Tenn.) voted in favor of
cloture on the bill, as did all of the Democrats present for the vote.
The tax-break extensions have stalled in the Senate several times
before, and folks in the renewables industry are starting to get nervous
as we near the expiration of those credits at the end of this year.
“More than ever, with record energy prices, record unemployment, and
grave concerns about global warming, Congress needs to work out
differences so we can stabilize energy costs for consumers and
businesses, improve our nation’s energy security, and create tens of
thousands of quality, green-collar jobs,” said Solar Energy Industries
Association President Rhone Resch following the vote.
Green groups rushed to chastise GOP leaders
for the obstruction. “By once again blocking efforts to extend these
crucial clean energy tax incentives that are in danger of expiring, this
minority is responsible for kicking the economy while it’s down,” said
Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope in a written statement. “Jobs
are already being lost in the renewable-energy industry and at least
100,000 more could disappear unless Congress acts to immediately renew
these tax incentives.”