Now that there's a Clear Mandate......

[Timber Loftis]

DRILL!!! DRILL!!! DRILL!!!

Today's BNA Reporter

New Vote on Drilling in Arctic Wildlife Refuge
Could Come in Senate Committee in January

A boost in the Republican majority in the Senate and President Bush's re-election are expected to breathe new life in a stalled energy bill and to renew an effort to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Senate energy committee staff told BNA Nov. 3.
While the final makeup of the committee will not be decided until later this year, the staff said a handful of unresolved issues leftover from a year of negotiations on energy legislation lead the agenda for Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

One "unresolved" issue for Domenici and Bush is that of expanding domestic energy resources through exploration and drilling, according to Marnie Funk, majority spokeswoman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,

"There will be another attempt at ANWR early in the next session in January," Funk told BNA Nov. 3.

As of late Nov. 3, one member of the committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), was in a race in which the winner was undetermined. Committee staff expected Murkowski will retain he membership on the committee if she is re-elected.

The seat of retiring Democrat Bob Graham from Florida will be open on the committee, as will the seats of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) and Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who also are retiring at the end of the 108th Congress.

Senate staff said Nov. 3 it was too early to determine the future make-up of the committee and the subcommittee leadership because it is uncertain at this point whether the number of committee members would change and who would fill the open seats.

Others on the committee who will likely maintain their membership are Democrats Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Evan Bayh (Ind.), and Charles Schumer (N.Y.), as well as Republican Sens. Murkowski and Jim Bunning (Ky.).

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) will maintain the ranking position on the committee, staff said.


History of Energy Bill, Unresolved Items

The House adopted a House-Senate conference report based on H.R. 6 in November 2003. But nearly a year ago, on Nov. 21, 2003, the Senate was unable to secure the 60 votes necessary to approve the bill and has abandoned the legislation.
One of the most recent attempts to revive energy legislation in the 108th Congress included a failed attempt by Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to attach the entire energy bill as an amendment to export tax repeal legislation (H.R. 4520).

Prior to this, the last congressional action came June 15, when for the second time in roughly six months, the House passed its 2004 energy bill (H.R. 4503) on a vote of 244-178 and sent it to the Senate. The bill closely tracked an earlier version of the House energy legislation (H.R. 6). The House vote was designed to draw attention to the overwhelming support in the House for passage of energy legislation that has stalled in the Senate.

Although some of the unresolved issues such as electricity restructuring, hydrogen fuel research, and clean coal initiatives have had bipartisan support, agreement between the House and Senate over the details and funding for such provisions was never reached.

An issue like electricity is largely "regional not political," Funk said. Therefore, she said, new senators from the South and as many as "four additional Republicans makes it that much easier for us to move" in the 109th Congress.

"After a year of stalling by the Democrats on our [Republican] bill prices have gone up for gasoline, natural gas, and home heating oil, which makes it all the more important for us to complete passage of comprehensive energy legislation," Funk said.

She said such congressional action "remains a core issue for the president."


Ethanol, Lame Duck Agenda

Representatives of the Department of Energy and the White House declined to comment Nov. 3 on upcoming activities, noting incomplete election results.
There are other remaining energy legislation issues--deep-water drilling, streamlining permits, and provisions creating a mandate to produce and use a grain-based ethanol as a gasoline additive. It is largely the related issue of liability protection for makers of the fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether that remains highly contested.

Although not a member of the committee, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) has been one of the leading proponents of ethanol production, known as a renewable fuels standard, an initiative also supported by the White House. Daschle lost his bid for re-election Nov. 2 and will be replaced by Republican John Thune, a former congressman. Funk said the committee is "confident Mr. Thune will equally be a strong advocate for ethanol and more effective at getting it done."

The National Corn Growers Association President Leon Corzine told Bush in a telegram Nov. 3, "We appreciate your strong support for corn growers and agriculture in your first term" and urged the president to move quickly on stalled policy initiatives such as a renewable fuels standard in comprehensive energy legislation.

Corzine added, "We are hopeful the next four years will see an end to the bitter and unproductive partisanship that has dominated the legislative process and thwarted progress on issues important to corn growers and our nation."


Public Lands, Water Supply on Agenda

Committee staff said no major legislation will be attempted during a lame duck session.
"Senators will want to sign off on conference reports and go home," Funk said.

Other issues in line behind energy legislation will include making headway on the backlog of maintenance on public lands and water legislation for the Western region of the country.

The Natural Gas Supply Association Chairman Joseph Blount said he looks forward to "continuing to work with the administration and the new Congress to meet the nation's goal of a balanced energy future, which should include additional access to non-park, multi-use federal lands."

Blount added that such a "balanced energy future cannot exist without government support for the search for new natural gas supplies, which are helping us move to a cleaner environment."

By Pamela Najor

Good news is good news [img]smile.gif[/img] Finally we might actually get some hard numbers on what reserves we have available and not just wild ass guesses made with insufficient data [img]smile.gif[/img]