Hill Heat

On Saturday, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, challenged the energy bill deal brokered by the Democratic leadership, attacking the inclusion of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (also known as the renewable electricity standard).

For weeks, my staff, along with Senator Bingaman’s, has been engaged in good faith negotiations with the House under a defined set of parameters laid out at the start of the process. We have made substantial bipartisan progress toward finalizing a bill. The legislation we have been working on contained a robust, much-needed Renewable Fuels Standard, important provisions on energy efficiency and carbon sequestration, and a long overdue increase in fuel economy standards. The parameters agreed to by Speaker Pelosi and communicated to us by Senate Democrats did not include a renewable portfolio standard.

Domenici complained particularly about what he saw as a lack of good faith.

At this time, I have instructed my staff to cease their work on the energy bill, since the final bill apparently will not be the product of our bipartisan negotiations. As someone who has been working for 35 years to forge bipartisan, good-faith compromises on tough issues like the federal budget and energy policy, I know that your word means everything. It is particularly disappointing for me to see that such a sentiment seems to be a thing of the past.

Sen. Domenici himself has failed to maintain such bipartisan compromises on this very bill. During the May committee markup of the Senate version of the energy bill (S. 1321, H.R. 6), Sen. Domenici failed to maintain a bipartisan deal to avoid controversial amendments during markup—Democrats had agreed not to introduce RPS in committee, and Domenici claimed Republicans would not introduce coal-to-liquids language. However, Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., introduced a coal-to-liquids amendment, breaking the deal.

The nomination of Stephen J. Isakowitz to be the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy. The draft of an original bill drawn from the text of bills: S. 731, S.962, S. 987, and S. 1115.

CQ:

A tenuous agreement to delay action on divisive issues blew up Wednesday as a Senate panel marked up its first major energy legislation of the year.

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee had agreed not to consider amendments on coal and renewable electricity. But the deal fell apart when Republicans forced a vote on an amendment by Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., to create a new mandate for coal-based transportation fuels.

Democrats tightened ranks — despite the fact that many support “coal to liquids” technology — and defeated the amendment 11-12 in a party-line vote.

The panel went on to adopt, 15-8, an amendment by Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would make various industrial facilities — including coal-to-liquids facilities — eligible for a 50-50 cost share program that would help pay for projects that capture the resulting greenhouses gases and store them underground.

The deal between Bingaman and ranking Republican Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico was intended to save controversial amendments for the Senate floor debate on the legislation. The underlying bill, which is still unnumbered, includes language from four measures that would address biofuels (S 987), energy efficiency (S 1115) and carbon sequestration technologies (S 962, S 731).

Although Republicans broke what one Democratic aide called a “ceasefire,” Democratic committee aides said Bingaman plans to keep his end of the bargain and withhold his amendment to create a “renewable portfolio standard” until the bill moves to the floor. That language would require utilities to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Thomas and Jim Bunning, R-Ky., plan to bring their proposal to boost coal-to-liquids technology to the floor as well.

The committee also adopted by voice vote 22 minor amendments that had been cleared with staff on both sides of the aisle in advance.

02/05/2007 at 10:00AM