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CRS Report: US Energy Policy Debate Centers on Energy Security Costs, and Environment
Even so, these ambitions are undercut by disagreements about the role of government, which has become a contentious issue that is characteristic in political debate, the report notes. "A fundamental dichotomy that lies beneath many individual policy debates, not only in energy issues, is between those who see government intervention as a positive force, and those who view it at best as a necessary evil to be restricted as much as possible," it says.
Debate about the nation's electric power sector is typified by electricity's central role in America's energy mix. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiatives that have imposed tighter emissions restrictions on coal-fired power plants are particularly "controversial," the report says. "Limits on cross-state emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants, and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, among other proposed regulations, have been characterized by critics as a regulatory 'train wreck' that would impose excessive costs and lead to plant retirements that could threaten the adequacy of electricity capacity (i.e., reliability of supply) across the country, although some in the electric power industry consider those concerns overstated," it notes.
Nuclear power is also an issue, though opposition continues over questions of safety and disposal of radioactive waste. That sector is plagued by cost considerations in the face of increasing natural gas production and safety concerns in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011, the report says.
Conservation and energy efficiency has also been a major component of policy since the first energy crisis of the 1970s. Recent actions include setting fuel economy standards and support for development of smart grid technologies.
The role renewables should play in the future is also much debated. However, electricity production by renewable energy sources—wind power, concentrating solar power, photovoltaic cells, geothermal energy, biomass—"is the goal of many initiatives: research and development programs, tax benefits, loan guarantees, and mandates," it points out.
Meanwhile, production of natural gas has increased sharply since 2010 due to development of tight shale formations, but while shale gas development has spurred environmental concerns about the effects on groundwater from hydraulic fracturing, the need for gathering infrastructure and pipeline construction from new fields is also an issue, it says. The likelihood of increasing exports of liquefied natural gas has also increased, and with it, the “prospect of controversy” over the question of exporting natural gas and its effect on prices and supply.
Domestic oil production is an issue that has seen a long history of controversy, the report says, pointing to environmental concerns that have led to extended moratoria on leasing for many areas. Likewise, the price of oil and gasoline has prompted arguments that prices are being driven by speculation and unregulated manipulation of markets, even though "the issue is complicated because oil prices are largely determined in a world market beyond the reach of domestic regulation," the report says.
U.S. energy policy has historically been characterized by "large, complex bills that deal with a wide variety of issues, with debate spanning several sessions," the report notes. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, for example, was the most recent comprehensive general legislation, with provisions and authorizations in almost all areas of energy policy. But EPAct 2005 also set up the Energy Department's program of energy project loan guarantees, "which has become a source of controversy and debate following the bankruptcy of the Solyndra solar system manufacturing facility in 2011."
Another bill with major energy policy provisions was the 111th Congress American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the "Stimulus" Act). It included expansion of the loan guarantee program and large increases in funding for renewable energy programs.
The 112th Congress did not deal with major energy legislation, but it did extend energy tax credits such as the Production Tax Credit for wind power, notes the report.
The 113th Congress, meanwhile, is expected to debate approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the EPA's regulations of emissions from coal plants (though no legislation has been introduced yet to the 113th Congress), the regulation and safety of hydraulic fracturing, and energy efficiency.
Sources: POWERnews, CRS
—Sonal Patel, Senior Writer (@POWERmagazine, @sonalcpatel)
US House committee passes three oil & gas bills
Washington (Platts)--12Jun2013/527 pm EDT/2127 GMT
A US House of Representatives committee on Wednesday approved three Republican bills aimed at expanding domestic oil and natural gas production, setting up likely approval by the House sometime this summer.
But faced with opposition from the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, the bills stand long odds of even being considered by the Senate, let alone becoming law.
The bills, which were approved largely along party lines, were among the 14 bills the Republican-controlled House Natural Resources Committee marked up on Wednesday.
One of the most contentious was the Offshore Energy and Jobs Act (H.R. 2231), which was introduced just last week by Representative Doc Hastings, a Washington Republican and the committee's chairman. The bill would open up much of the Outer Continental Shelf to offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to spur federal lease sales off the coasts of California, South Carolina and Virginia.
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The bill passed by a 23-18 vote, but faced stiff opposition from Democrats, who said Hastings was pushing for oil and gas production in areas ill-equipped for the industry or the potential risks it presents.
"This expansion isn't necessary and the risk is large," said Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat.
Representative Alan Lowenthal, a California Democrat who unsuccessfully attempted Wednesday to amend the bill so it would prohibit drilling off his state's 800 mile coastline, said offshore oil and gas drilling is opposed at all levels of government in his state.
"We would rather preserve it for future generations than jeopardize it for short term gains," he said.
Representative Jon Runyan, a New Jersey Republican, attempted to include an amendment in the bill which would make offshore drilling contingent on a popular vote in the state off of which drilling would take place. But Hastings said such a vote could not stop that drilling since waters over three miles offshore are federal government jurisdiction and not subject to state law.
The committee also approved another Hastings bill, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act (H.R. 1964), which would force the Department of Interior to open the reserve to oil and gas lease sales. At least one federal lease sale would be required to be held in the reserve over the next 10 years under the bill.
The bill was passed by a 26-14 vote amid opposition from Democrats since it would abandon an Obama administration plan for the area, and because of the millions of dollars in costs of oil and gas studies required by the bill.
But Representative Don Young, an Alaska Republican, said the Obama administration's plan, however, ignores the long-term intended use of the reserve.
"This is a petroleum reserve, not a park, not a refuge," Young said. "Do we want this oil for America? We need that fossil fuel. This is a bill that will make that happen."
The committee also approved Young's Native American Energy Act (H.R. 1548) by a 25-15 vote. The bill is aimed at easing energy development on Indian lands. Among other elements, the bill would limit federal environmental reviews for certain tribal energy projects, and block the Department of Interior from imposing a hydraulic fracturing rule on Indian trust land. The measure would also allow the Navajo Nation to issue mineral leases without federal approval. Young introduced a similar bill in 2012 (H.R. 3973), but it was never taken up by the House.
--Brian Scheid, brian.scheid@nullplatts.com --Edited by Derek Sands, derek.sands@nullplatts.com
Virginia Beach NAACP rallies behind Rep. Rigell offshore drilling bill
June 11, 2013|By Todd Allen Wilson, tawilson@nulldailypress.com | 804-643-0499
The Virginia Beach chapter of the NAACP threw its support this week behind federal legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, to lift the moratorium on drilling for natural gas and oil in the state's coastal waters.
Rigell's plan is similar to a bill sponsored by Virginia's Democratic U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and would lift the five-year moratorium on offshore drilling put in place by President Barack Obama's administration. Under the measure Virginia would receive 37.5 percent of lease revenue.
Carl Wright, Virginia Beach Branch NAACP president, sent Rigell a letter that said he was pleased to support congressional efforts to lift the drilling ban because of the potential jobs it would create in the region.
"Given the unemployment rate, especially that of African Americans here in Virginia Beach and the region, we are encouraged that you are taking proactive steps toward increasing employment opportunities in this part of the commonwealth," Wright wrote.
The NAACP is the latest group to publicly express it's support for the legislation. Other groups supporting the bill include the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission and the Virginia Beach African American Political Action Council.
Rigell said he has reached out to a variety of groups concerning the measure in order to drum up wide-based community support.
"We're all in this together, and we have a shared objective of advancing job creation in Hampton Roads – and I think this is the number one way to do it," Rigell said in an interview. "I'm looking for and receiving tangible, strong expressions of support from a very, very diverse range of constituencies that have normally not been involved in the process."
Rigell said he has been talking regularly about the legislation with Kaine and Warner, and hopes to have his bill passed as part of a larger piece of legislation in the House of Representatives by early next month.
A similar bill sponsored by Rigell passed the House during the last congressional session but languished in the Senate. Rigell said he is hopeful that with the strong community support a version of the bill lifting the ban on offshore drilling will pass both chambers and make it to the president's desk by the end of the year.
But not everybody is on board. Glen Besa, executive director of the Virginia Sierra Club chapter, said Hampton Roads would be better served if Rigell, Kaine and Warner put forward legislation to battle climate change and rising sea levels.
He said the risks of offshore drilling in Virginia outweigh the benefits.
"As we saw with the Gulf oil disaster, oil spills decimate tourism and fishing industries. In Virginia, that means risking over $2.5 billion and over 100,000 jobs in industries that depend on healthy ocean and Chesapeake Bay waters and clean beaches," Besa said. "It's a risk that remains real as large spills continue to occur around the world and as Congress has yet to pass a single law strengthening federal oversight of offshore oil and gas development."
U.S. House Panel Approves Measure to Expand Offshore Drilling …
A U.S. House of Representatives committee voted 23 to 18 to approve a measure that would expand oil drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Pacific ...
www.bloomberg.com/.../u-s-house-panel-approves-measure-to...
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