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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that the Senate’s energy bill is necessary for the “environment and for national security,” adding that the legislation will generate jobs and lower energy costs for consumers. However, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee, in a statement indicated that the Senate’s energy bill will eliminate jobs by making Obama’s oil drilling moratorium permanent.

Liberal and environmental activists say that Democrats will not suffer in November because of their failure to pass Senate climate change legislation. Charles Chamberlain, political director of Democracy for America, an advocacy group founded by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, said liberal voters are happy that a climate bill sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was shelved. “The reality is that the base didn’t have a lot at stake in the climate bill,” said Chamberlain. “After the BP disaster, all we’ve heard from our members, the No. 1 issue is climate change and offshore oil drilling...

The hour is late, but there is still a sliver of time to pass a serious energy bill out of this Congress. To do so, though, would require President Obama to rustle up votes with a passion that he has failed to exhibit up to now, and, more importantly, it would require at least seven Republican senators to put the national interest above party and politics. Yes, I know that is all unlikely. You can laugh now. But just remember this: If we don’t get a serious energy bill out of this Congress, and Republicans retake the House and Senate,...

Today’s Daily Express (London) opens with a stark reminder that there are consequences to the foolishness being crammed down on you now — and which will be voted upon in the Senate, we are told, at the end of this month. BRITAIN faces years of blackouts and soaring electricity bills because of the drive toward green power, a leading energy expert warned last night. A growing obsession with global warming and “renewable” sources threatens the stability of our supply. Derek Birkett, a former Grid Control Engineer who has a lifetime’s experience in electricity supply throughout Britain, warned that the cost...

TRENTON - Last month, a state utilities board voted to allocate $15 million in federal stimulus money for grants to make businesses more energy efficient. The money for the program, which seeks to lower New Jersey residents' utility bills by reducing demand from the biggest users of the electric grid, should have come from a fee assessed on major commercial and industrial users since 2003.But the Retail Margin Fund, which holds that revenue, is empty - among the consequences of hundreds of millions of dollars in diversions from "dedicated" funds to help the state close a multibillion-dollar budget gap.Budget documents...

After meeting with President Obama, Republican senators said there's a path for a bipartisan clean-energy bill this year, but the major fault line remains as Democrats said they still want any legislation to set strict controls on greenhouse gas emissions. The Republicans said they were willing to work with Democrats on a scaled-down bill that would boost energy research and development and emphasize nuclear power so long as the majority took the idea of a carbon-pricing scheme -- which they have dubbed a "national energy tax" -- off the table. "As long as we take a national energy tax off...

Legislation could include a carbon cap on utility companies. With the gulf oil spill creating political opportunity, Senate Democrats will begin crafting a sweeping energy bill this week that could include a first-ever, though more modest, cap on global-warming pollution. Republicans dismiss such a cap-and-trade system as a new tax on households and business — "cap-and-tax," they call it.

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Vice President Joe Biden expressed confidence that the Senate would approve energy  legislation, including cap and trade -- which many critics view as an energy tax -- even though Congress-watchers think the chances of such legislation passing this year are slim.  “There is clear consensus out there that something has to be done,” Biden told reporters on Thursday. “All the folks on the [Capitol] Hill know we have got to do something about carbon emissions in the air and the amount of oil we consume from abroad.” "I think we're going to get an energy bill," said Biden....

Washington in the Obama era seems bent on imposing "solutions" that not only fail to solve Americans' problems, but make us poorer in the bargain. In a direct attack on Wall Street, the president and his ally, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), are bent on imposing the "Volcker rule," which would prohibit banks from making speculative investments with their own funds, and on requiring banks to divest their derivatives trading desks, or at least put them in a separate subsidiary owned by a parent holding company. Five major banks -- Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley...

President Obama held a meeting with Senators from both parties yesterday to discuss clean energy and climate legislation. The meeting came one day after the President gave his first speech from the Oval Office to address the Gulf oil spill. Al Gore applauded the President’s call for comprehensive climate legislation, and added “the only way to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again is to fundamentally change how we power our economy.” The Natural Resources Defense Council looks at several studies released in the last several weeks that find the American Power Act will be affordable and good for...

Washington (AP) - A climate and energy bill being pushed in the Senate faces bleak prospects, despite President Barack Obama's call for a "clean energy" future that lessens dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. A day after the president's Oval Office speech, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated that his party remains unanimous in its opposition to what he called a national energy tax. Even one of the bill's likely supporters said the measure does not have enough votes to pass. "You know, it would take 60 votes in the Senate to do that," said Sen. Byron Dorgan,...

Apart from the fact that last night's address from the Oval Office was nothing more than a PR campaign for the cap-and-trade energy tax scheme, Barack Obama's false reassurances to the residents of the Gulf coast show that either he lied or he is terribly misinformed. At this point in the disaster it is way too early to provide reassurances to anyone, anywhere. The reason is clear and dire. The Gulf oil disaster is much worse than anyone will admit, and the repercussions for human life could be potentially catastrophic. Obama repeatedly asserted that the disaster will not destroy the...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has "total confidence" that he can defeat the Senate energy bill with bipartisan support. After meeting with President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders, McConnell told reporters that Obama and his allies are trying to use the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a "rationale" for passing cap-and-trade. Despite McConnell's (R-Ky.) confidence, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he has planned a meeting with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) on Wednesday afternoon, and scheduled a caucus on the bill with Senate Democrats next week. Reid did not answer...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) alerted Senate committee chairmen Thursday that he plans to move comprehensive energy legislation in July. Reid asked the chairmen to recommend legislation to deal with the Gulf oil spill before July 4 so that leaders can include those ideas in the comprehensive energy package. “I think it is extremely important that you each examine what could be included in a comprehensive energy bill that would address the unfolding disaster in the Gulf of Mexico,” Reid wrote in the letter. “Among the actions I think we need to explore are ensuring that the oil companies...

In a high-stakes move, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are planning to forge ahead with or without Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and introduce an energy bill next week, according to sources familiar with the planning. In addition to the uncertainty about Graham’s status on the bill, Kerry and Lieberman are gambling that the dramatic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will help, rather than hurt, momentum for the legislation. That’s not a sure thing. As described in interviews, the reform package includes provisions that allow an expansion of offshore drilling and generous revenue sharing for...

Some moderate Democrats still are “really anguished” over voting for the energy bill, Rep. Jason Altmire told Fox News, and they “would be reluctant now to vote for health care and take a second vote that might be unpopular in their district.”With Republicans raising the volume of their protests and House Democratic leaders uncertain if they have enough rank-and-file support, some moderate Democrats sense that passing a health care reform bill will be as difficult as the House’s energy bill, which was approved by a slim margin June. That has caused quite a bit of hand-wringing among the Democrats. Some...

According to current documents the Copenhagen Treaty, if signed by President Obama in December, will ultimately make the U.S., along with other "developed nations", financially responsible for the CO2 emissions of "developing nations". Read the document here. "Recognizing that current and potential climate change impacts require a shift in the global investment patterns and that criteria for financing allocation shall clearly respond to the priorities identified by the international community, with climate change stabilization being one of these priorities." What does this mean? Essentially, the treaty would mandate that the U.S. and other developed nations share there wealth with developing...

Vice President Biden on Wednesday reiterated the Obama administration's commitment to building the nation's renewable-energy capacity, an effort he says will create thousands of new jobs. "We're not just looking for jobs, we're looking for decent jobs," Biden told business and environmental leaders gathered on Capitol Hill. "These are the kind of jobs that allow people to get to the middle class." Delivering remarks at a green jobs summit held by the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, Biden cited studies showing green-collar jobs pay 10 to 20 percent more than "traditional" jobs and noted jobs installing and creating new...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Republicans said on Wednesday they are working with Democrats to come up with compromise energy legislation that would tackle record gasoline prices and open more offshore areas to oil drilling. Instead of trying to move a broad energy bill that is loaded with all sorts of energy proposals, a bipartisan group of 10 senators is working on more narrow legislation that would have a better chance of winning the 60 votes needed in the Senate to block a filibuster. "(We) are trying to move us in a direction to get a package that could actually pass...

Gas prices spur new energy billsHigh gasoline prices have sparked Congress to sponsor a gusher of energy legislation, some of which would face a veto by President Bush. Posted on Sat, May. 24, 2008 BY KEVIN G. HALL khall@mcclatchydc.com WASHINGTON -- With the price of oil and gasoline at record levels and sure to be a campaign issue in the fall, Congress is moving on a host of energy-related measures. Most of them, however, sound good but won't significantly boost production or lower prices in the near or even medium term. Some tax measures would encourage the development of alternative...

President Bush entered office calling on Congress to pass the first national energy plan in a generation. He proposed a comprehensive energy plan to encourage conservation and energy efficiency; expand the use of alternative and renewable energy; increase the domestic production of conventional fuels; and invest in modernization of our energy infrastructure. The energy bill passed by Congress this week paves the way for a brighter and more secure energy future with more reliable, affordable, and clean sources of energy to power America forward. It will help put us on the path to reducing our dependence on foreign sources...

The energy bill that President Bush just signed into law is a significant victory for environmentalists, who have long pushed for such measures as expanded ethanol production. But the centerpiece of the bill--for which environmentalists have been agitating for years--is a major increase in automobile fuel economy standards, the first such increase since 1975. The law forces auto manufacturers to increase the average mileage of cars, SUVs, and light trucks to 35 mpg by 2020. Currently, the standard is 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for SUVs and light trucks. It might seem obviously beneficial to decree that cars...

If you're like me, the bluster and grandstanding associated with big congressional actions make you want to roll up the windows, crank up the radio, and tune out the whole circus. But the mammoth energy bill finally passed by Congress and signed by President Bush is something consumers should pay attention to. Among other things, the new law will directly affect the kinds of cars on the market in a few years--and what buyers pay for them. Some of the big changes that automakers and consumers will both have to contend with: Surprisingly tough gas mileage standards. The requirement to...

The energy bill to be signed by the president today is arguably the worst piece of energy legislation ever enacted into law. It will substantially increase the price of automobiles, increase highway fatalities, increase fuel prices, worsen air pollution, and force consumers to buy products (like super-efficient light bulbs) that they manifestly -- and for very good reason -- do not want to buy. It will transfer huge amounts of wealth from the consumer to the farm lobby in the course of promoting a dubious product -- ethanol -- that will make energy supplies less reliable and greenhouse gas emission...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans blocked a broad energy bill Thursday because it included billions of dollars in new taxes on the biggest oil companies. Democratic leaders fell one vote short, 59-40, in getting the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. Democrats said they would strip the taxes from the legislation to move the bill forward. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he hoped to get the revised energy package approved later in the day, including the first increase in automobile fuel efficiency in three decades and massive increases in the use of ethanol as a motor...

Taxing successful energy sources and subsidizing unsuccessful ones: That's the essence of Washington's energy policy mistakes during the 1970s and early 1980s. These mistakes are about to be repeated in the tax title to the Senate energy bill. This section would raise taxes by an estimated $21 billion over 10 years--including $13 billion from the oil and natural gas sector--and spend much of it on tax breaks for alternative energy sources like ethanol and wind power. As before, this approach will likely backfire and raise prices while reducing energy security. Overall, this tax title makes an anti-consumer energy bill even...

Will the Reality of Biofuels Catch Up With the Hype? by: Emmanuel Opati, December 11, 2007 Experts are warning that mandating use of bio-fuel energy (such as ethanol) by companies is increasing inflation. The Thanksgiving weekend hike of turkey prices is attributed to increased competition for corn products by farmers and oil companies. As a result, the price of corn increased, which consequently raised farm feeds. “The whole food and fiber sector have to bid to get enough supply of the commodity that supplies them, so when corn prices go up, soy bean and wheat prices have to go up...

December 5, 2007 Madame Chairman, thank you for hosting today’s markup of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. This chart here is a diagram of the bill’s requirements, new agencies and new programs. The first thing one notices is how extremely complicated and far-reaching this proposal is. Rube Goldberg would be proud, as several members will focus upon. I want to focus upon the red blocks at the top. Unfortunately, they are not just blocks - they represent millions of families, farmers, drivers and workers who will pay higher heating bills, suffer more pain at the pump, and lose...

Both Houses of Congress have labored for months on energy bills that claim to reduce our reliance on oil imports, increase energy efficiency and move the country toward energy independence.Both Houses of Congress have labored for months on energy bills that claim to reduce our reliance on oil imports, increase energy efficiency and move the country toward energy independence. Instead, it looks like Congress is planning to tax our way to energy insecurity with provisions that put American energy companies at a global disadvantage. These bills fall short in many ways, but the most striking provision is the repeal of...

Energy: While the Russians plant their flag on the Arctic seabed, Speaker Nancy Pelosi plants a white flag on the House floor. While the world seeks more energy, her energy bill seeks more lawsuits. We are not making this up. Tucked away in HR 3221, the energy-less bill that Pelosi hopes to pass before the August recess, are various mandates for federal agencies to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions. Part of the bill then lets U.S. individuals (aka trial lawyers) sue the feds for up to $1.5 million each per year. That will save the Earth. Can you say class-action lawsuit?...

08/03/2007 By H. JOSEF HEBERT / Associated Press House leaders pressed Democrats from oil states Friday to support $16 billion in oil industry taxes and sought a compromise over use of renewable fuels by electric utilities, hoping to clear the way for approval of energy legislation. But a vote, planned for Friday, was postponed after the House became bogged down over problems with a computerized voting system, compounded by Republican anger over a disputed vote Thursday night on an agriculture bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has vowed to get energy legislation through before lawmakers leave for their summer recess...

WASHINGTON (AP) - House of Representatives' leaders pressed Democrats from oil states Friday to support $16 billion (¤11.6 billion) in oil industry taxes and sought a compromise over use of renewable fuels by electric utilities, hoping to clear the way for approval of U.S. energy legislation. But a vote, planned for Friday, was postponed after the House became bogged down over problems with a computerized voting system, compounded by Republican anger over a disputed vote Thursday night on an agriculture bill. The leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has vowed to get energy legislation through before lawmakers leave...

Washington -- Democrats, in taking back the House from Republicans, promised to tilt the nation's energy policy away from oil drilling and toward efficiency and cleaner sources of energy. This week their pledge will be put to the test. As the House starts debate on its energy bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi must decide: Will she push a measure, opposed by electric utilities, to require them to produce 20 percent of their power from renewable sources? Will she allow a vote on a major increase in fuel economy that's being fought by autoworkers' unions and a few powerful Democrats? "When you...

The UN has come forward and admitted something that the rest of us knew well, at least since the days of Live-Aid. The UN has announced that it can’t feed the world. Anyone following the saga of the world’s efforts to feed Somalia could have told us that. If you can’t protect the food, you can’t feed the world. What makes this iteration of UN blame-outsourcing particularly interesting is that they are blaming the environmentalists. Not personally, but indirectly, the UN cites the competition of biofuels for raw agricultural materials, as a source of World Food Program’s current budgetary angst.Josette...

Yesterday the Senate, led by Harry Reid (D-NV) passed an anti-energy bill called Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007, that they say is geared towards reducing domestic dependence on foreign oil. The bill however, does not such thing and will have as its main effect, an increase in prices on consumables. Specifically, food, gasoline, automobiles and plastics. The drastic increase in demand for petroleum by developing nations, such as China and India (link) along with the current burdensome restrictions on building new refineries, is the cause for the increase in gasoline prices. It is the simple...

Washington - Rolling over intense opposition from car manufacturers, the Senate on Thursday approved the first substantial increase in mileage requirements for passenger cars in more than two decades. The measure was part of a larger energy bill passed late Thursday by a vote of 65-27. The bill is expected to be taken up by the House next week. The mileage measure was a major defeat for Detroit's Big Three automakers. If it becomes law, the provision would increase the combined average mileage of new cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from about 25...

June 22, 2007 Reid: Democrats' Passage Of Energy Bill A Victory For The American People Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following remarks today on the floor of the U.S. Senate: “Last night the Senate took a giant leap forward. With strong bipartisan support, we passed an energy bill that will grow our economy, strengthen our national security and protect our environment. If passed into law, this bill will put us on a path toward reducing our reliance on oil by increasing supply of renewable fuels produced right here at home – and decreasing the amount of energy...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate approved a proposal on Thursday that would for the first time in 30 years force sharp increases in auto fuel standards and impose other measures to make vehicles more efficient and cut dependence on imported oil. In a surprise voice vote, senators approved a compromise amendment that would require an improvement in the average efficiency of the new U.S. vehicle fleet from 25 miles per gallon now to 35 mpg by 2020, about a 4 percent annual increase. "If we're really smart, we'll find a way to make this new approach to fuel efficiency work...

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed an energy bill late Thursday that includes an increase in automobile fuel economy, new laws against energy price-gouging and a requirement for huge increases in the production of ethanol. ... The White House said the president would be urged to veto an energy bill that includes the price-gouging measure, arguing it amounts of price controls. The president also repeatedly has said he opposes Congress mandating a specific mileage number for auto fuel economy. Bush believes the Transportation Department should be given increased flexibility to set a standard. ... Republicans blocked a $32 billion tax package...

Like the idea of paying more for less? If a certain piece of legislation now before Congress becomes law, we might have no choice. Despite having the words "consumer protection" in its title, the latest Senate energy bill would actually boost the cost of gasoline, electricity, food, cars and home appliances. In fact, virtually everything touched by the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 will go up in price and down in quality. Notwithstanding public outcries over $3-per-gallon gas, the bill's main provision on gasoline is to increase the amount of costly ethanol and other renewable...

I promised on The Corner to supply more details about the re-hashed command-and-control socialism and populist demagoguing masquerading as an Energy Bill in the Senate. Here is CEI's analysis of the Bill: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to bring an omnibus energy bill to the Senate floor after the Senate finishes debate on the immigration bill. This is likely to happen by the middle or end of next week. S. 1419 was put together by Reid from other bills that have been marked up in committee or introduced. The result should be titled the Making Energy Less Affordable Act,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate's top Democrat on Thursday said he will seek a vote in coming weeks on an energy bill that could mandate more use of renewable fuels like ethanol, make federally owned buildings more efficient and require utilities to sell green power. Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada, the Senate's Majority Leader, said he wants the chamber to vote on a bill before it leaves for its Memorial Day recess at the end of May. "I want to do something this work period on energy," he told reporters in his office. "We are going...

WASHINGTON -- A new Rand Corp. study showing the falling costs of ethanol, wind power and other forms of renewable energy predicts such sources could furnish as much as 25% of the U.S.'s conventional energy by 2025 at little or no additional expense. A second renewable-energy report soon to be released by the National Academy of Sciences suggests wood chips may become a plentiful source of ethanol and electricity for industrial nations because their forested areas are expanding, led by the U.S. and China. Because use of renewable fuels to replace oil and cut emissions of carbon dioxide is an...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 07, 2006 CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616 Pelosi: On First Anniversary of Failed Republican Energy Bill, Americans Struggle With Skyrocketing Gas Prices Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on skyrocketing gas prices on the eve of the first anniversary of President Bush’s signing of the failed Republican energy bill on August 8, 2005: "One year ago, the top Republican charged with drafting the energy bill, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton, said the Republican energy bill ‘will lower energy prices for consumers, spur our economy, [and] create hundreds of...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- City leaders today vowed to press on in their fight against H.R. 3893, the Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005, as it moves to the Senate following today's close vote in the House. Officials from the National League of Cities (NLC) see the bill as a serious preemption of the historic rights of cities and towns to determine where facilities such as refineries can be located. "There is no evidence that the location of new refineries has been held up by any actions of local government," said Donald J. Borut, NLC executive director....

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this question. There is a lot of commentary now about refinery capacity, or more accurately, the lack thereof. Does anyone know if additional refineries were part of the President's energy policy bill that was shelved by the Democrats?

Nuclear power was one of the big winners in new omnibus energy legislation signed on 8 August by US president George W Bush at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was hosted by New Mexico’s two senators, energy and natural resources committee chairman Pete Domenici (R) and the committee’s ranking democratic member Senator Jeff Bingaman, who were key players in moving the 1724-page bill through the congressional approval process. The act, which government and outside analysts estimate will carry a price tag of about $14.5 billion, includes a sizeable package...

Boosted by a single paragraph tucked into the mammoth federal transportation bill that Congress hurriedly passed last month, Fall River plans to ask a federal energy panel as soon as this week to reconsider the approval it recently gave for construction of a liquefied natural gas facility.

..The law also promises to resurrect the stagnant nuclear power industry, which has not commissioned a new plant in more than 30 years. With newly extended limits on liability in accidents, the industry is free to develop plans for new plants, said Steve Kerekes, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute. The president said yesterday that the law will lead to the construction of nuclear plants before the end of the decade, giving a big boost to an industry that has run aground because of local opposition to reactors, lingering doubts after the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident in...