House Energy Bill, HR 3221, what do you think?

House Energy Bill, HR 3221 is being described as a 'broad energy package'. I don't claim to understand everything included in the 786-page bill which "will come to the floor Friday," along with a $16 billion tax package (HR 2776) produced by the Ways and Means Committee."

Referring to the bill as "a Liberal energy disaster in the making", Alan Caruba says, "If anyone or any party could have fashioned a worse plan to meet the energy needs of America, I cannot imagine it."

It should be noted that the United States has been especially blessed with centuries’ worth of coal deposits and estimates of enormous untapped reserves of continental offshore oil and natural gas. As this is written Congress continues to deny access to these reserves as well as much of Alaska’s vast oil reserves.

Apparently, too, no one has explained to Speaker Pelosi that oil is a global commodity whose price is set by the exigencies of supply and demand. What, then, does she propose to do to drive down the price of a barrel of oil? [snip]

She wants to give tax credits to bike riders while taking away subsidies that encourage Big Oil to undertake the enormously expensive and risky business of finding new sources of oil and natural gas.

Moreover, she wants “Big Oil” to “pay their fair share of taxes” but neglects to mention the billions in taxes collected by the federal and state governments from every gallon of gasoline we purchase. [snip]

In fact, the Democrats rejected the Gas Petroleum Refinery Improvement & Community Empowerment Act of 2007. No new refineries means less refining capability for a nation that has not seen a new one built since the 1970s. Just watch the price of gasoline rise as that continues. (more)

Be sure to go read "The House is poised to debate and pass an Energy Bill this week...get your thoughts in..." at The Oil Drum, leave them a comment and your thoughts on the bill, and be sure to read the comments already there. Here's a sample:

Nate Hagens -- [snip] The bill is 800 odd pages long, which shows me how distanced real people are from real policy - how to accessibly persuade our congress to take meaningful changes in bite sized palatable enough increments is a tall task - especially when our constituents are still largely of the mindset that low prices and growth are our ordained right.

I hope Speaker Pelosi and other courageous public representatives can put forward as aggressive changes to the Energy Policy act as possible.

Jokuhl -- [snip] I got emails from MoveOn and Greenpeace about energy legislation over the last couple days, but didn't get any specifics with their messages vying for us to call and advocate or oppose more 'mystery amendments'..

Prof. Goose -- We had a lot of discussions over a year ago about a) whether or not a gas tax was a good idea, and b) whether or not it is a regressive tax (i.e., it hurts the poor more than the rich). Political feasibility aside, public opinion and logic is on the side of a gas tax if you believe the world is at plateau.

Here's the links to the Bill Text, via The Oil Drum:

House Energy Bill, HR 3221 - text of the bill.

http://www.rules.house.gov/announcement_details.aspx?NewsID=2822

House Renewable Energy Tax Bill, HR 2776 - text

http://www.rules.house.gov/announcement_details.aspx?NewsID=2821

Readers are also encouraged to inform their Members about their recommendations for voting for or against the bill. Two issues of continuing controversy and vote counting are raising CAFÉ standards and adopting a national Renewable Portfolio Standard. The Capitol Hill Switchboard is 202-225-3121--it is a good idea to know your Member's name or your zip code (all nine digits) when calling--Members only want to hear from their constituents. (The Oil Drum)

More at Congressional Quarterly

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