[NukeNet] $25 Billlion For Nuke Planrs As Industry Flexes Muscle, Weaker Energy Bill Passes

[Bill Smirnow]

>The agreement would guarantee loans of up to $25 billion for new nuclear
plants and $2 billion for a uranium >enrichment plant, something those
industries had been avidly seeking. It would also provide guarantees of up
to $10 >billion for renewable energy projects, $10 billion for plants to
turn coal into liquid vehicle fuel and $2 billion to turn >coal into natural
gas.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/washington/14energy.html
 Industry Flexes Muscle, Weaker Energy Bill Passes

  a..                E-Mail
  b.. Print
  c.. Reprints
  d.. Save
  e.. Share
    a.. Del.icio.us
    b.. Digg
    c.. Facebook
    d.. Newsvine
    e.. Permalink



By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: December 14, 2007
WASHINGTON - Pared-down energy legislation cleared the Senate on Thursday by
a wide margin after the oil industry and utilities succeeded in stripping
out provisions that would have cost them billions of dollars.

The legislation still contains a landmark increase in fuel-economy standards
for vehicles and a huge boost for alternative fuels. But a $13 billion tax
increase on oil companies and a requirement that utilities nationwide
produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources were left on
the floor to secure Republican votes for the package.

The tax measure and the renewable electricity mandate were included in an
energy bill that easily passed the House last week. But industry lobbyists
focused their attention on Republican members of the Senate and on the White
House, which repeatedly threatened to veto the bill if the offending
sections were not removed.

Earlier in the week, Senate leaders agreed to drop the renewable electricity
section. And on Thursday, after a failed effort to cut off debate on the
bill, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said he would
reluctantly remove the tax provisions as well, clearing the way for passage
in the early evening.

The slimmed-down bill passed 86-8.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned electric
utilities, led the opposition to the renewable electricity mandate. Along
with its member companies in the Midwest and Southeast, the group carried
out an extensive lobbying campaign warning that the bill would cause sharp
increases in electric rates.

The institute was joined by the National Association of Manufacturers, the
Chamber of Commerce and groups representing the paper, mining, petrochemical
and refining industries.

Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for the institute, said that a federal mandate
would conflict with mandates for renewable power in place in more than half
the states and that this could possibly complicate efforts to pass a
nationwide program to combat climate change.

"The federal government jumping in now and second-guessing the states and
enacting a fuel mandate in advance of economy-wide greenhouse gas regulation
just wasn't going to make it out of Congress," Mr. Riedinger said.

The bill now returns to the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicted that
it would pass overwhelmingly early next week. A White House spokesman said
President Bush was pleased that the bill was "moving in the right direction"
and that he would sign it when it reached his desk.

The oil industry conducted its own campaign of opposition to the tax
provisions, arguing that it would impose burdens on the industry when it
needed all the resources it had to find and develop new sources of energy.

"We made sure that everybody knew our point of view - the White House, the
House, the Senate," said James Ford, director of government affairs at the
American Petroleum Institute. "We told our story and told it thoroughly."

Mr. Ford said that even with the tax provisions removed, the oil industry
had concerns about meeting the bill's requirement that 36 billion gallons of
renewable fuels be blended into gasoline by 2022. He said the bill was far
too specific about how much of certain kinds of fuels must be produced,
whether from corn, various other plant fibers or animal fats.

"With all these boutique biofuels, we need an ability to adjust the mandate
if technological advances aren't made," Mr. Ford said.

Environmental advocates were generally pleased with passage of the new
vehicle fuel-economy standards and the biofuel provision. Dan Becker, an
environmental consultant who has been working on auto efficiency issues for
nearly 20 years, called passage of the bill the biggest environmental
victory since enactment of the Clean Air Act of 1990.

But some environmentalists said they were unhappy that the bill would not
provide large incentives for expansion of renewable energy sources like
wind, solar and biothermal.

Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth Action, accused Senate
Democrats of "capitulating" to Senate Republicans and the White House.

"When the Republican leadership and the polluter lobby have blocked
important legislation, Senate Democrats have been all too willing to move in
their direction," Mr. Blackwelder said in a statement. "The result is that
the two most positive provisions of the energy bill - a clean energy mandate
and a tax package reining in handouts for fossil fuels and promoting clean
energy - are being removed, while detrimental provisions, such as a radical
five-fold increase in unsustainable biofuel use, remain."

Separately, Congress reached a tentative agreement on a major energy package
that it plans to enact outside the energy bill, according to a Senate
Democratic staff member. The agreement, to be included in a broad government
spending bill, would authorize the Energy Department to guarantee loans for
various energy projects, making financing far easier.

The agreement would guarantee loans of up to $25 billion for new nuclear
plants and $2 billion for a uranium enrichment plant, something those
industries had been avidly seeking. It would also provide guarantees of up
to $10 billion for renewable energy projects, $10 billion for plants to turn
coal into liquid vehicle fuel and $2 billion to turn coal into natural gas.
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: article-sponsor.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 437 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.energyjustice.net/pipermail/nukenet_energyjustice.net/attachments/20071214/52bb10e7/attachment.gif 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: savages_88x31_post.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 10465 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mail.energyjustice.net/pipermail/nukenet_energyjustice.net/attachments/20071214/52bb10e7/attachment-0001.gif