2008 Woodie Awards
Democrats can't afford to water down eco-friendly energy bill
Wayne Madsen
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Opinion
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WASHINGTON _ Democratic Senate-House conferees should stick to their guns in support of tough energy legislation aimed at pushing Americans out of their gas-guzzling SUV's in a last-gasp attempt to stop a global warming catastrophe.
Forging the strongest energy bill possible means retaining two House provisions that would increase the gas mileage of the average motor vehicle to 35 miles per gallon from the current 27.5 mpg by 2020 and require that 15 percent of the electricity generated by private utilities come from renewable sources such as solar and wind by the same date.
They also should keep another House provision that levies a $16 billion "windfall profits tax" on oil and natural gas companies in order to dramatically reduce America's unconscionable spewing of global warming gasses like carbon dioxide and methane.
Unfortunately, both the Senate and House energy bills are foundering _ under siege by a coalition of anti-environment lawmakers led by House Energy and Commerce Committee chair John D. Dingell, D-Mich.
The wrangling over the two bills is pleasing to major corporate interests opposed to any eco-friendly legislation and may well result in the bill ending up on the scrap heap unless environmentalists and progressives can rally their forces.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who shepherded the bills to fruition earlier this summer, suddenly have grown faint-hearted as lobbyists for Big Business threaten to withhold campaign contributions.
Pelosi's much-heralded creation of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming now appears to have been nothing more than public relations window dressing.
Any notion that current Corporate Average Fuel Economy vehicle efficiency standards must be improved has met with strong opposition from Big Auto _ concerned that adhering to the improved standards will increase the price of vehicles by $1,000 to $3,000. That's probably an exaggeration, but it's still a small price to pay for saving our beleaguered planet.
Forging the strongest energy bill possible means retaining two House provisions that would increase the gas mileage of the average motor vehicle to 35 miles per gallon from the current 27.5 mpg by 2020 and require that 15 percent of the electricity generated by private utilities come from renewable sources such as solar and wind by the same date.
They also should keep another House provision that levies a $16 billion "windfall profits tax" on oil and natural gas companies in order to dramatically reduce America's unconscionable spewing of global warming gasses like carbon dioxide and methane.
Unfortunately, both the Senate and House energy bills are foundering _ under siege by a coalition of anti-environment lawmakers led by House Energy and Commerce Committee chair John D. Dingell, D-Mich.
The wrangling over the two bills is pleasing to major corporate interests opposed to any eco-friendly legislation and may well result in the bill ending up on the scrap heap unless environmentalists and progressives can rally their forces.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who shepherded the bills to fruition earlier this summer, suddenly have grown faint-hearted as lobbyists for Big Business threaten to withhold campaign contributions.
Pelosi's much-heralded creation of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming now appears to have been nothing more than public relations window dressing.
Any notion that current Corporate Average Fuel Economy vehicle efficiency standards must be improved has met with strong opposition from Big Auto _ concerned that adhering to the improved standards will increase the price of vehicles by $1,000 to $3,000. That's probably an exaggeration, but it's still a small price to pay for saving our beleaguered planet.
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