An energy bill with no juice
IF VOTERS last fall hoped that putting Democrats in charge of Congress would guarantee a progressive energy policy, they had better keep the pressure on over the next few days. The Senate this week is poised to approve a bill that would switch some tax breaks from the oil and gas industries to producers of renewable energy, but the package could also include a new standard for auto fuel efficiency that is barely worth the name. In addition, a requirement that utilities get at least 15 percent of their power from renewable sources could fall victim to a filibuster.
The troubled state of this bill points up the difficulty of addressing complex and controversial issues such as energy or immigration when neither the president nor either party in Congress is in a position to provide strong leadership. The Democrats cannot present a united front on this issue because too many represent states, like Michigan, that are dependent on the US auto industry, which fears stringent mileage standards.
Never mind that if Congress had raised the standard over the years and included SUVs in it, Detroit would have been able to compete with foreign automakers by translating the industry's engineering improvements into better mileage and not greater acceleration and towing power. Until the recent spike in fuel prices, the overall fuel efficiency of US cars had actually fallen as consumers gravitated to gas-guzzling SUVs.
In the current bill, one provision would raise the current 27.5 miles per gallon standard to 35 by 2020, but would allow the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration to set a lower standard if this were found not to be cost effective. The two Democratic senators from Michigan, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, favor an even weaker measure with non binding goals. The National Academy of Sciences has determined that a 37 miles per gallon requirement is feasible, safe, and cost effective.
The requirement that utilities get 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020 is ambitious but, combined with the bill's tax credits for the renewable industry, could steer power generation in this country toward solar, wind and tidal turbines, and biofuels. However, the measure faces a filibuster threat from Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, who failed in his attempt to get new nuclear units and advanced coal generators included as within the 15 percent.
Without a significantly stronger mileage standard for autos and the 15 percent requirement for renewable power, the Senate bill would make little progress in weaning Americans from their addiction to oil or reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases. Voters will have a right to feel cheated if last fall's change in congressional leadership does not result in real changes in energy policy.
