House to vote on landmark energy bill

[brooklynite]

Source: Detroit Free Press

The Democrat-led House plans to vote today on a massive energy bill including a historic increase in fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but the package appears to face growing opposition in the Senate and from President George W. Bush.

The legal language of the fuel economy compromise obtained Wednesday by the Detroit Free Press also shows the deal includes a benefit for Nissan Motor Co., extending an exemption for rules requiring small car production in the United States.

As outlined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the bill will include new requirements for renewable fuels, $21 billion in eliminated tax breaks on oil companies and other sources of revenue, and will require electric utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he expected the House to pass the 1,000-page bill, despite the fact that many members would not see the actual text before a vote. When asked if the vote would happen Wednesday, Hoyer said “that’s our intention.”

Read more: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071205/BUSINESS01/71205044/0/COL14

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Recognizing that the Republican's have been holding up the House/Senate Conference on the prior energy bill, I'm not enthusiastic about another vote on a bill that members haven't read.

United States Congress
For Immediate Release
December 5, 2007

Contact:
Carol Guthrie (Baucus) 224-4515
Matthew Beck (Rangel) 225-8933

HOUSE, SENATE TO CONSIDER ENERGY TAX LEGISLATION
Baucus, Rangel unveil $21 billion package of incentives for renewable energy, capture of carbon emissions, energy efficiency in business and at home

Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) today unveiled a package of energy tax legislation for consideration by Congress this year. The $21 billion package, on which the House is expected to vote this week, advances the development of advanced electricity infrastructure, contains incentives to mitigate carbon emissions, promotes the production of alternative energy and the security of our domestic fuel supply, supports the use of alternative vehicles, and encourages energy savings and efficiency. Its cost is fully offset.

“Our country needs to make a big turn in terms of energy policy, and this tax package will help to steer the ship. This legislation will help America to use more carefully the resources we have today, and to balance our energy incentives toward the fuels of tomorrow,” said Baucus. “An economically strong, globally competitive future for America just won’t run on the fuels of the past. It’s high time to focus our energy efforts on sources that will be available and affordable for Americans decades from now. And it’s appropriate to pay for these new energy incentives by closing loopholes in our current energy tax policy. I am sure the Senate will have a robust debate on some provisions of this important legislation, but I expect that we will all work together to see it passed.”

“This legislation helps ensure that our tax code is a partner in moving our energy policies into the 21st century,” said Rangel. “By creating and expanding incentives for the use and production of renewable energy and conservation, we help break our dependence on foreign oil and promote America’s energy independence. Investments in cutting-edge renewable energy technologies will also help keep American manufacturers and producers at the forefront of technological developments internationally.”


Key provisions in the Clean Renewable Energy and Conservation Tax Act of 2007 include:
• Long-term extensions of tax credits for renewable electricity
• Tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects
• Tax credits for production of biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol
• Tax credit bonds for renewable energy and conservation
• Extensions of energy efficiency tax incentives

The package also includes revenue-raising provisions affecting the oil and gas industry. However, the provisions have been designed to prevent any retroactive effect on the industry and to avoid negative impacts on production that may generate increased consumer prices. The main oil-and-gas-related provisions repeal the domestic manufacturing incentive for the top five integrated producers while freezing the deduction at 6% for all others in the sector. The Act also tightens rules governing the payment of taxes by oil and gas producers on foreign-earned income.

The package was developed in close consultation with Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, who is also a member of the Finance panel.

[Hugin]

1. Nice... Very nice.

:kick:

[anitar1]

2. I won't hold my breath hoping that Congress will pass

any bill that might help us slaves. As it is, I can barely scrape the utility money together each month. And it keeps rising. Even with the most stringent measures , it is still too high. Winter should be abolished.

[Heywood J]

3. Wow. That's pretty shitty.

One - only 35mpg by 2020? Come on. That's so little more and so far in the distance that it's barely even lip service to increasing fuel efficiency or preserving resources. It's probably not even enough to make a dent in oil consumption, and I doubt that in twelve years under this economy, there will be many people with enough money to buy new cars for this to make a difference. Hell, in twelve years, a gallon of gasoline may cost $35.

Two, and the big one - "House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he expected the House to pass the 1,000-page bill, despite the fact that many members would not see the actual text before a vote."
So he expects Representatives to just stand up and say "aye" on something that's one thousand pages long, without ever having read it? That's dereliction of duty, at best, for them to do so - and I would not have any confidence or faith in someone who would do so. That's exactly how the US attorney-replacement provision got included in the Patriot Act, and here we go again. Aren't we taught to read contracts before signing them? Who puts their name to something without knowing what's in it? That's another reason why people are in trouble with mortgages, and Congress is ready to repeat the same mistake?

Three - a thousand pages? Give me a break, this thing's an exercise in paper-pushing, not conservation. How is an educated public supposed to understand the law when it's thicker than War and Peace? How are Representatives supposed to read that thing over in any reasonable length of time to know what it contains? No wonder you have to pay a lawyer $300-400 an hour to represent you and know the law for you - they have to spend years reading it first...





Who wants to bet on what kind of things will be back-doored in through this bill?

[Javaman]

5. Nail on head....

the devil is in the details. only problem this thing is nothing but details if no one reads it. I bet there is all sorts of things buried in this.

I wouldn't suppose that someone added some sort of wording that makes the requirements...optional.

[dipsydoodle]

4. 35 mpg by 2020

That much. Well whoop-dee-fucking-doo. You lot obviously take global warming real serious :sarcasm: