Does Energy Legislation Compromises Help Our Future?

Oct 25, 2010, Politico, Darren Samuelsohn

Republicans have a familiar playbook to turn to on energy policy if they take control of the House or Senate next year.

Some of their ideas will no doubt be controversial, including opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

But after several bruising years fighting with Democrats over caps on greenhouse gas emissions, they are just as likely to pitch some suggestions that would be prime fodder for compromise, including tax breaks and incentives for investment in nuclear power, clean coal and renewable energy.

One thing is certain: Republican leaders probably won't have to worry about being called overly ambitious.

"I wish I had some real great novel stuff, but this is all Riggins up the middle," said a former House Republican energy staffer, referring to former Washington Redskins running back John Riggins.

 
The GOP energy game plan reads like an open book in part because Republicans have had so many cracks at the issue over the past decade. President George W. Bush signed energy laws in 2005 and 2007 but not before Republicans left many of their favorite ideas — like oil drilling in ANWR — on the cutting-room floor.

Republicans have also put forward energy alternatives in recent years to contrast with the proposals of Democrats intent on tackling global warming via cap-and-trade legislation — focusing on an "all of the above" approach.

Top GOP leaders on both sides of the Capitol pitched legislation last year calling for the construction of 100 new nuclear plants over the next two decades. And the "Drill, baby, drill" chants during the 2008 presidential campaign still ring true for the party's leadership today.

"I am committed to a comprehensive energy reform policy that will boost supplies of all forms of energy right here at home to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, protect us against blackmail by foreign dictators, create American jobs and grow our economy," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) says on his website.

Many observers envision Republicans trying to compromise with Democrats and the White House on energy policy before the 2012 presidential campaign takes over the congressional agenda.

"I think you'll see a House under a Speaker Boehner that runs much differently, that really makes the committees do bipartisan work," said Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, a member of the GOP leadership team who has served on the Energy and Commerce Committee. "It'll be a different attitude."

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, cited a nearly eight-month-old statement from the Kentucky Republican reflecting places where there's possible room for negotiations.
"As to ways we can work together on energy, the president laid out ideas in the [2010 State of the Union], and Sen. McConnell agreed with him," Stewart said, noting President Barack Obama's offers to cut deals on nuclear power, offshore drilling and clean coal technologies.

Scott Segal, an industry lobbyist, said the next Congress will have several ideas to work with that were held over from Obama's first two years in office, including a renewable electricity standard that expands the definition of what energy types count toward the thresholds, namely, in nuclear power and clean coal.
Segal said he also expects Republicans to accept incentives for energy efficiency, nuclear power and hydroelectric power, coupled with credits for geothermal heat pumps and next-generation heating, ventilating and air conditioning.

"An approach like this would be very consistent with the expressed desire of the president to continue to focus on energy but to do so in 'chunks' as opposed to a comprehensive bill," Segal said, adding that Obama may be forced to accept legislation that blocks the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.

Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, predicted a greater emphasis on nuclear power and domestic oil and gas production next year.

"What you'll see is a return to some sanity and a better-balanced energy package, with a recognition that we have to be able to produce our energy — not only to supply our own energy needs to a greater extent but also to create jobs and get the economy moving," Dillon said. "You'll see an all-of-the-above kind of approach."

Murkowski, should she win her write-in campaign next week, would make another attempt at passage of drilling in ANWR despite surefire opposition from environmentalists, Democrats and Obama, Dillon said.

"ANWR is something that definitely should be on the table, and it should be open to discussion," he said. "It's a great resource."

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, who could replace Murkowski as the top Republican on the energy panel, would most likely promote nuclear power. This year, he introduced a bill with Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) that emphasizes tax credits and other government funding for nuclear power and natural gas and electric vehicles.

But any bipartisan overtures could also get deflated by a heavy dose of Republican oversight.
Republican-led committees are expected to dive into the Obama administration's work on global warming regulations at the EPA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's agenda for the Yucca Mountain waste repository, oil and gas production overseen by the Interior Department, coal permits through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and analysis of the renewable energy projects funded through the 2009 economic stimulus package, to name just a few issues.

"The Republican Congress is going to start with oversight," said Andrew Wheeler, a former GOP staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "I don't think they're going to just jump right in and legislate."

Fred Upton, the likely new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said oversight will be job No. 1.

"Should Republicans get the gavel, rigorous oversight of the EPA will be a top priority," Upton said in a statement to POLITICO. "Federal agencies have overstepped their authority and have not been held accountable. No significant regulation should take effect until Congress has thoroughly reviewed and voted to approve or disapprove."

If there are going to be compromises, Wheeler said, Obama will need to hit the reset button on the agenda he offered during his first two years in office.

"His ideas went nowhere with a Democratic Congress," Wheeler said. "If he's going to take the lead on any energy issues, he's going to have to change what he's calling for because, obviously, even his own party wasn't in favor of it."

Jason Grumet, president of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the lessons of President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich could provide a template for success when it comes to energy.
"When you have divided government, both parties have an active share in leading the country," he said. But Grumet also warned that the bitter mood prevalent on Capitol Hill since Obama came into office might continue.

"We have to, of course, recognize the possibility that Congress just won't function," he said.

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