The Energy Bill Debate Continues

by Tom Darin

The U.S. Senate is back in session and has turned its attention once again to passing an energy bill.

As you'll recall, in August 2001, the House of Representatives passed the Republican-backed energy bill, H.R. 4, which would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling, while "streamlining" the energy development permitting process and gutting environmental laws that protect wildlife and wild places on public lands in the Rocky Mountain West.

In response, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) introduced, along with original sponsor Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), the Senate's energy bill. Entitled the Energy Policy Act of 2002 (S. 517), the bill would ban drilling in the pristine ANWR and emphasizes promoting energy efficiency and providing incentives for renewable-energy projects.

WOC is focusing, of course, on how the bill will affect energy development - primarily oil and gas reserves - on Wyoming's vast and highly valued public lands.

Immediately upon release of Sen. Daschle's draft bill, WOC and others started to play both offense and defense. Telling key politicians and their staffers that you want the original bill changed for the better - while asking them at the same time to delete or amend troublesome sections - is no doubt an art. This was something not covered in Schoolhouse Rock.

At the outset, WOC, along with many other concerned local, regional and national groups, advocated stronger landowner protections and better pre-leasing environmental analyses. At the same time, we pointed out serious concerns about a section of the bill on "timely" and "expeditious" leasing and approval of oil and gas drilling permits, as well as a section that grants industry a multi-year exemption from any regulation of the injection of hazardous chemicals into drinking water supplies. (The process, hydraulic fracturing, is used in oil and gas production to stimulate and enhance resource recovery.)

During the draft stages of the bill, we convinced the sponsors to delete the entire section on hydraulic fracturing and clarified some key language that, as originally drafted, would have required all public lands containing any oil and gas reserves to be leased.

However, an unfriendly amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act, recently introduced by industry-friendly Sen. Bingaman, imposes a multi-year moratorium on the regulation of hydraulic fracturing. Unfortunately, the amendment passed 78-21 and is now part of the Senate energy bill.

Facing numerous hostile amendments (the Los Angeles Times reported that there could be as many as 200), we began concentrating on the few that would most affect public lands in the Rocky Mountain West.

Here, to be armed with fast and effective responses, we have to play the "what if" game, trying to anticipate anti-environmental amendments before they are introduced. WOC has been focusing on likely amendments that would streamline environmental reviews for oil and gas drilling permits, hand over post-leasing authority to industry-biased state agencies and weaken oil and gas lease stipulations that protect wildlife and other natural values.

At the same time, we are playing offense in two key areas: finding Senate supporters for landowner protections and "look before you lease" considerations for roadless areas on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management that may qualify for wilderness protection.

WOC understands the importance of a comprehensive plan to address our nation's future energy needs. While fossil-fuel extraction and use is inevitable in the near-term, WOC supports a more forward-thinking bill that strongly promotes the transition to energy efficiency, conservation and rapid conversion to environmentally friendly renewable energy sources. As noted above, the House energy bill is a public-lands train wreck and has little to offer in the way of sustainable solutions to our over-reliance on fossil fuels.

Unfortunately, as we go to press, the Senate bill is not looking much better. It does appear that ANWR drilling is out, but the Bingaman hydraulic-fracturing moratorium has been reinstated, fuel economy standards (CAFE) were recently voted down, liability limits for the nuclear power industry have been extended, the requirement that electric utilities derive a mere 10% of their power from renewable resources is in jeopardy (as is the very achievable goal of 20% by 2020), subsidies for "clean coal" and coalbed methane are included - the list goes on and on.

Unless things change, WOC is considering the possibility that in this drill-everything environment, the passage of absolutely no energy bill will be a victory. We will support comprehensive national energy legislation when a more sensible and balanced approach is presented to the American public. In the meantime, WOC will focus its efforts on blocking any negative public-lands amendments and fighting for pro-environment provisions in the bill.

Get Involved! Your views are important! Please contact Wyoming's U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose anti-environment amendments to the Energy Policy Act of 2002 (S. 517). Senator Craig Thomas 109 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Fax: (202) 224-1724 Email: craig@thomas.senate.gov Senator Mike Enzi 290 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Fax: (202) 228-0359 Email: Senator@enzi.senate.gov