Neil's Notebook - New, bipartisan energy bill seeks 'energy independence'
July 30, 2008
Photo: Congressman Abercrombie (at lectern) addresses a Capitol Hill news conference on the "energy independence" legislation being offered by the bipartisan House Working Energy Working Group. The group announced its bill on July 30, 2001 and is seeking to get a vote in September.
Bill includes focus on oil and natural gas production and sets up conservation and environmental funds
Congressman Neil Abercrombie says the bipartisan legislation crafted by the House Energy Working Group “represents the security interests of the United States.” Abercrombie says, “The people of the United States are going to be served by an energy policy that establishes our energy independence that makes certain we have investments in our country for our people.” The legislation, he says, is “member-driven” without special interests imposing their political agendas on the pursuit of U.S. energy independence.
One of the principle areas of the legislation, he says, is production—the exploration for and extraction of oil and natural gas in places such as the Outer Continental Shelf. There’s also a call to establish conservation and environmental reserve funds that will help to preserve and to maintain wildlife refuges and public parks and to develop alternative energy, including solar, wind, and biofuels. He says production of oil and natural gas from within U.S. borders will serve as a bridge to the nation’s “alternative energy future” and “see to it that the royalties from the leasing and sale of that oil and natural gas go to alternative energy, environmental, and conservation projects.”
The House Energy Working Group is led by Abercrombie (D-HI) and Congressman John Peterson (R-PA).
Channel surfing for news On KITV News (ABC) in Honolulu (7/30/08), Congressman Abercrombie said: “We've had vote after vote after vote on the floor of the House, and attempt after attempt after attempt made in the Senate to pass an energy bill…Nothing's passed…The new bipartisan legislation calls for opening more miles of coastline for gas and oil drilling as well as tax incentives for renewable energy production."
On “Your World With Neil Cavuto” (FOX), Congressman Abercrombie said: “And all we're asking for is a vote…Everything on its face in this bill can be understood by everybody. We're going to have energy independence. We're going to stop sending the wealth of this country out of the country. We're going to invest in our own people."
Also on "Your World", Congressman Peterson said: “This country needs to open up offshore. We have huge reserves there. It's close to our refineries. It makes sense for America to not be 70 percent dependent on foreign oil.”
FOX News (7/30/08) reported that “a coalition of bipartisan House members,” led by Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) and John Peterson (R-PA), “unveiled an energy bill that they say can pass Congress before it adjourns for the year.”
Fox News says Abercrombie appealed to voters “to tell their lawmakers to pass legislation.” “We want people around the country to rise up and take a vote,” says Abercrombie. “Put it on the floor for a two-thirds vote. If we don’t’ take action (on energy), what right do we have to be here?” the Fox report notes.
Meanwhile, FortBendNow, an online neighborhood news service in Fort Bend, Texas reports: “A congressional coalition including U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford (TX), has unveiled what they call a ‘compromise energy plan’ that would open up more oil drilling while directing lease royalties to alternative energy research. The coalition ‘grew out of frustrations in Congress over the partisan divide that has prevented a comprehensive energy plan from being developed,’” says Lampson.
Earth News reports the bill "would relax current bans on offshore drilling, lifting the federal moratorium on leases more than 50 miles offshore. Drilling would be prohibited within 25 miles of land, and states would have a chance to opt out of allowing leasing between 25 and 50 miles of their coasts...Revenues generated from new leases would be split between the federal government and producing states, with each receiving 30 percent. The remaining 40 percent, estimated at more than $1 trillion, would be used to offset the cost of conservation and renewable energy legislation, including nuclear waste recycling and carbon capture and sequestration."
