12-3-07 by dugan
It sounded too good to be true, and it was.
The announcement Friday night was that Congressional negotiators had come up with a compromise energy bill including moderate new auto fuel efficiency standards, removal of some tax breaks for oil, increases in biofuel subsidies and a requirement that electric utilities use 15% renewable fuel sources. Now, in the harsher light of Monday, the big lobbies are hard at work to pick the deal to pieces, according to Forbes and others.
The auto industry: Ford and GM issued collegial statements about meeting the proposed new efficiency standard of 35 mpg for their fleets by 2020. BUT. Behind the scenes, they’re demanding that the federal government do a big favor in return–block states (primarily California) from passing any law that might result in a higher standard. This would be a terrible precedent for California and the other states that have demanded better tailpipe cleanups.
Oil industry. No to bigger biofuel subsidies. No to any loss of multibillion-dollar tax breaks.
Electric utilities. No requirement for renewable fuels.
White House: Touch one hair of the oil industry and the veto pen comes out.
The last paragraph of the Forbes story gets it about right:
"The Pelosi-Dingell agreement, and the auto industry’s apparent concession, is an important milestone in their goal to pass an energy bill. But lawmakers will have to win concessions from other key industries if they want to pass truly comprehensive energy legislation. Otherwise, what’s being touted as an energy bill might end up being simply a vehicle fuel economy bill."
To which we have to add: And a permanent loss of states’ ability to go beyond the toothless EPA on cleaning up greenhouse gases.
Unless, that is, Congress–particularly the Senate Republicans who let nothing pass without getting their 10-vote filibuster bonus–understands that begging industry lobbyists for little concessions does not amount to doing the peoples’ work.