Senate Passes Crummy Energy Bill

This is why we need a few more Democratic senators. Republican senators threatened to filibuster the hugely important energy bill moving through Congress if certain taxes on oil companies weren't removed. The effort to override the filibuster failed by one vote (you need 60).

So, to get the bill passed, the tax provisions were stripped out, denuding the bill. Among the provisions ditched--extension of a very modest tax credit for homeowners who install solar power.

What do we get now? A pretty crummy bill, unless some of the stripped out provisions can be restored in conference (the House bill has the taxes). Yes, we finally get a modest increase in fuel economy standards. We get a slight improvement in appliance efficiency--which would probably occur anyway, with higher fuel and electricity prices. And a huge boost in biofuels--a waste of subsidies on farmers that will only increase food prices without appreciably reducing global warming.

Meanwhile, U.S. representatives at the Bali conference on global warming are holding up any progress on new limits, thereby providing cover for China, India, Brazil and other developing countries to object to limits as well.

How many more days until we get a new President and a new Congress?

Don't Cry For Me, Detroit

Energy shenanigans galore.

We have to remember, of course, that energy is BIG money. REALLY big. So it comes as no surprise that lobbyists are working furiously on the massive energy bill being crafted in the Senate.

Yesterday, Senators soundly defeated the worst proposal out there: to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to turn coal into liquid fuel. Even the Republicans never came up with anything that awful.

Today, Senators are dickering madly over the arcane requirements of corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, as Detroit's "Big Three"--who really aren't all that big anymore--cry, moan, wail, gnash their teeth, scream and whine that they can't possibly meet a 35 mile per gallon requirement by 2020, much less a higher requirement after that.

Haven't we heard all that before? Air bags--they'll ruin us; catalytic converters--will bankrupt the industry; first round of fuel economy standards--can't be done.

Detroit's crybabies have no credibility; if the Senate wants to maintain the tiny modicum of its own credibility that still exists, it will pass a robust energy bill setting aggressive milestones for Detroit to reach. Whether Congress as a whole can pass a decent energy bill is yet to be seen.

Energy Bill Mess

The House and Senate are taking up energy bills.

It's a mess.

We're not sure the Democrats are going to come up with anything better than the Republicans.

A group of Senate Democrats is pushing coal liquefication. We don't need cars running on coal!

"Democrat" Rich Boucher, of Virginia, is even pushing a measure to prevent states like California from leading the way on reduction of carbon emissions. Must make Bush proud.

Others are pushing to increase subsidies for corn-based ethanol. We don't need more corn ethanol, either. We're already spending billions and all it's doing is raising food prices.

What's wrong with these people!

We're beginning to think we'd be better off without Congress.