Federal Standards for Utilities Face Partisan Hurdles(GOP STOPS BILL)

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/18/politics/18ENER.html

CONGRESS
Federal Standards for Utilities Face Partisan Hurdles
By DAVID FIRESTONE



ASHINGTON, Aug. 17 — The Bush administration called on Congress today to impose immediate standards for electricity reliability on utilities to prevent further power blackouts, but Congressional leaders gave little sign that the disputes holding up such standards were near a resolution. Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, said the nation needed to move quickly away from a system where utilities decided how to respond to power failures to one of federal standards. Electrical experts said last week that the patchwork of standards could explain why some regions were able to avoid the blackout on Thursday while others were not. Strict federal standards could also prevent utilities from overloading transmission lines.
"We need to pass an energy bill that gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to impose mandatory reliability standards," Mr. Abraham said on CNN's "Late Edition." "The people who use the system have to adhere to high standards of conduct, or be punished if they fail to do so."

Those standards have been included in energy bills before Congress for several years but have been held up by partisan disputes over the administration's desire to drill for oil in the Alaskan wildlife refuge and other environmental issues. Democrats today called on the administration and Congressional Republicans to drop the drilling provision from an energy bill that is now in a House-Senate conference committee so the power standards can be quickly approved.
"This issue has been held hostage to the Republican agenda of trying to drill in the most pristine wilderness, environmentally sensitive areas of the country," Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said on CNN. "We could have broken this issue off three years ago, five years ago. But they refused to allow it to move as a separate piece of legislation."

But Republicans appeared reluctant to separate the issues, for fear that the controversial provisions might not pass if they were not tied to the electrical standards that are widely considered vital.

....Tom DeLay, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," blamed Democrats for blocking the energy bills, which he said might have prevented the blackout had they not been opposed by "environmental extremists."<snip>

[GainesT1958]

1. Funny how...

They all used to lambast Jimmy Carter back when HE proposed a comprehensive energy policy. "Our first goal is conservation", he said in 1977. "Energy conservation--that's being too cold in winter and too warm in summer!" laughed Ronnie Reagan. Well, first California, because of Enron, and now the Northeast, Industrial Midwest, and eastern Canada are paying the price. And the Repubs today say what? "The public has got to conserve more energy".

Everyone is talking about an energy policy, but NO ONE IN CHARGE (read: G.O.P.) EVER DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT! x(

B-)

[Bandit]

2. You mean Republicans want to "Regulate" the energy grid???

The guys who preach deregulation all of a sudden want to regulate the grid. :shrug: and it is Democrats fault they can't do this. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. I wonder do they realize how truly foolish they really have become.

[papau]

3. I like NBC equating GOP lies w/ facts about past to get to Partisan Blame

Game - never reporting the GOP refusal since 96 to agree with the Dem desire to upgrade the grid - with the GOP putting a price on Northeast safety of Dems agreeing to the rape of Alaska and National Park land in the Midwest and west.

It was funny watching how hard NBC tried to pretend GOP not at fault.

On MSNBC fellow said "I guess with control of the Whitehouse and both houses of Congress, some are going to blame the GOP more than the Dems!"

Laughing out Loud !! LOL

:-)

[Bandit]

4. Not us though said NBC with a slight smile.

"I guess with control of the Whitehouse and both houses of Congress, some are going to blame the GOP more than the Dems!"

[pfitz59]

5. News reporters are saying: "May never know who's to blame!"

Then saying: "$100 billion to fix. Of course customers will pay!" I say BULLSHIT! Confiscate the Energy Company management and stockholder assets like they do with petty drug dealers! This is a far greater crime!