|
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise in the strong opposition to the bill before us, the conference Energy Policy Act of 2003. The bill before us is a pork-laden, budget busting, fossil-fuel promoting vestige of the past, developed largely in secret by a handful of GOP Members. This legislation is a mere shadow of what it was and could be.
This could have been a proud moment for this Congress and for the nation. Rather than caving to special interests and wallowing in pork-barrel politics, we could have risen to the challenge and met our obligation to help prevent such crises as the Enron energy scandal and the blackout of 2003 from reoccurring. We could have acted to promote our economic prosperity, strengthen our national security, and protect the health and welfare of all Americans through bold, balanced legislation. We could have finally tackled global warming – the greatest environmental challenge of our time. We could have considered a real jobs bill, based on opening new markets and spurring new technologies. We could have set American energy policy on a better, brighter course.
Instead, we are stuck with this – a sewer of an Energy Bill. The bill that has emerged from the closed door, Republican-only conference and which we consider today is a legislative disaster. Sadly, it bears little resemblance to the balanced, bipartisan legislation that passed the Senate last July. The Senate bill, which originally passed this body in the 107th Congress, strengthened our national security, safeguarded consumers and protected the environment, and was developed in open, meaningful, bipartisan fashion.
Before I move to the substance of the conference bill, I must offer a few harsh words about the process the GOP majority employed to produce it. In all my time in the Senate, I have never witnessed a more unfair and unstatesmanlike spectacle. With the exception of the tax provisions of this bill, in which Senator Grassley seized every possibility to involve his Democratic colleagues, this is a thoroughly partisan product.
Here’s the way the conference went. One conference meeting at which Democratic conferees offered opening statements only. Complete shut out of Democratic conferees from negotiations over the substance of the bill. A few staff-level meetings for show after policy decisions had already been made and reflected in GOP-only developed text. Special-interest lobbyists exerting extraordinary influence over the bill. Release of a more than one-thousand-page document only 48 hours before the scheduled meeting to adopt it—40% or more of which was new text. It is inconceivable to me that legislation of this import was developed this way. Quite simply, this process afforded no real opportunity for Democrats to influence the final product and no opportunity for the American public—whom this body is charged to represent—to view and comment on the final product. I second the comments of many of my Democratic colleagues that we will NEVER be subject a conference like this again.
In dissecting the pork-laden bill that emerged from the smoke-filled backrooms of the conference committee, let me first highlight one provision of extraordinary importance to the State of Connecticut. Connecticut has worked for decades to ensure that the construction and operation of natural gas pipelines and electric cables across our national treasure--the Long Island Sound--fully comply with State and federal environmental and energy laws. The bill before us contains a provision to permanently activate the Cross Sound Cable--a provision that did not appear in either the House or the Senate bill and as to which no one received advance notice. The Cross Sound Cable had been temporarily activated by federal order in emergency response to the summer’s massive blackout, but had been prevented from permanent activation by the State of Connecticut until it complies with State laws. So much for state’s rights and environmental and consumer protection. Shameful.
That is only the tip of the iceberg. Let me review the most egregious offenses buried in this bill.
First, subsidies and giveaways to industries and special interests. My good friend, Senator McCain, has labeled this bill the porkiest of the pork barrel, budget busting bills. CBO estimates that the bill will cost more than $30 billion in industry tax incentives and direct spending. Taxpayers for Common Sense has estimated that it will cost in excess of $90 billion. This stunning price tag includes millions of dollars in direct incentive payments to mature energy industries, including payments to undertake equipment upgrades they would have to do anyway. The bill authorizes $1.1 billion for a nuclear reactor in Idaho to demonstrate uneconomic hydrogen production technologies. It has loan guarantees to build coal plants in several states, provided as last-minute sweeteners to secure Senatorial support for the bill. The bill contains interesting new “green bonds” for five projects throughout the country, by which projects would get financial benefits for “green” construction of primarily shopping centers. One project, in Shreveport, Louisiana includes a new “Hooters” restaurant. Is this groundbreaking energy legislation? How can we approve legislation gushing money this way given the mushrooming budget deficit? Our neediest citizens will surely pay the cost.
Second, inadequate consumer protections. The bill does not adequately protect consumers against utility mergers and electricity market manipulation. For example, broad, effective prohibitions against price gouging schemes used by Enron and other energy trading firms, which passed the Senate 57 to 40 earlier this month, are excluded from the bill. The legislation repeals the requirements of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUCHA) without putting adequate consumer protections in place.
Third, electric transmission line and natural gas pipeline siting and construction. The bill allows the Secretary of Energy to determine the siting of transmission lines through federal lands, including national forests and national monuments (except those in the National Park System), over the objection of the responsible federal agency. The bill overrides state energy and environmental legal authorities to give the federal government power to site and construct transmission lines and natural gas pipelines.
Fourth, MTBE liability protection. In a provision added in conference to benefit companies primarily based in Louisiana and Texas, the bill provides retroactive and prospective liability protection for producers of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) cutting off the rights of injured Americans across the country and imposing a huge financial burden for clean up on our states and local communities. Simply unbelievable.
Fifth, environmental protection rollbacks and giveaways. The icing on the cake for this bad bill is the significant environmental protections it strips away for the benefit of energy producers. The bill also contains new provisions to make our air much dirtier. The conference bill would exempt metropolitan areas from meeting the Clean Air Act's ozone-smog standard. This issue was never considered by the Senate or the House and was inserted into the conference report during "conference committee" meetings. A new report from Clean the Air reveals that the ill-conceived energy bill would have severe public health consequences around the country, especially for children. Delays in implementing the Clean Air Act could lead to nearly 5000 hospitalizations due to respiratory illness and more than 380,000 asthma attacks and 570,000 missed school days each year. The bill exempts all construction activities at oil and gas drilling sites from coverage under the Clean Water Act and removes hydraulic fracturing (an underground oil and gas recovery method) from coverage under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The conference bill expedites energy exploration and development at the expense of current National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. Environmental review is waived for all types of energy development projects and facilities on Indian lands.
I want to be fair. The conference bill does contain provisions that make limited progress--baby steps only--toward achieving energy goals. And the bill recognizes the political reality that the Senate has spoken forcefully to the fact that it will not permit the Bush Administration to drill in another of our nation’s treasures, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can search the bill to find requirements for renewable fuels (increase in sales of renewable fuels, including ethanol, from two billion gallons to five billion gallons by 2012); federal energy efficiency standards for energy use and appliances; increase in federal government purchase of renewable energy (7.5% of electricity from sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass); funding for energy research and development, including related to hydrogen fuels; and limited tax incentives for alternative vehicles, renewable energy sources, and energy efficiency. That’s why some of my colleagues claim this bill articulates an energy program for the 21st century. Hogwash. These weak provisions do not even register on the scale against the predominant special interest, fossilized provisions of the conference bill.
What is this bill missing? Frankly, the list is staggering. I have time to highlight five key areas:
First, renewable portfolio standards. Our Senate-passed bill required utilities to generate 10% of their electricity from renewable energy facilities by 2020. Such a provision would spur new technology development and work to wean the country off foreign oil dependence and the drilling-first-and-only mindset that has predominated American energy policy for generations. In addition, the majority touts this bill as a great jobs creation bill; according to studies of the Tellus Institute and Union for Concerned Scientists, the renewable industry would create new, sophisticated job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Second, climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels threaten not only our environment, but also our economy and our public health. Should we continue unabated our current rate of polluting, we threaten to disrupt the delicate ecological balance on which our livelihoods and lives depend. This bill is so short sighted that it contains no provisions of any kind to address climate change.
Third, fuel economy improvements. No credible energy bill can lack means to improve fuel economy for automobiles and trucks. This is the key to reducing our dependence on foreign oil because the transportation sector is the single largest user of petroleum.
Fourth, oil savings provision and specific hydrogen standards. Amendments agreed to by the Senate last summer contained provisions with specific deadlines—real teeth—to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to move us to the hydrogen fuel program of the future. Neither appears in this bill.
Fifth, Alaska natural gas pipeline. I strongly support the construction of this pipeline, which will bring millions of gallons of natural gas to the lower 48 states and create almost half of the new jobs (400,000) touted under this bill. The conference bill, however, fails to provide the necessary incentives to enable construction of the Alaska natural gas pipeline, which would prevent the U.S. from becoming more dependent on natural gas imports.
This abominable bill must not be made law. Any Senator serious about advancing America’s energy and environmental policies and curtailing government waste is compelled to vote against the Energy Bill before us. We can and must do better. Americans deserve a real Energy Bill, one that we can be proud of. This is not it. Let us reject this legislation and return to the drawing board, recommitting ourselves to producing a balanced, innovative, and responsible energy policy for the 21st century. Thank you, and I yield the floor.
|
