ALSO VISIT

Rep. John Dingell testified today on the floor of the House that the new Republican-backed energy plan would grant new powers over environmental policy to the Department of Energy, pre-empting and overruling both the EPA and the local authority of states. The bill's backers say it is designed to bring down prices of gasoline and other refined petroleum-based products.

Rep. Norwood of Georgia, in support of the legislation, referred to complaints about the bill's being closed for amendment or debate as "weeds" threatening to undermine the work of public service which he perceives to be the purpose of the bill. He also stated that only by helping oil refineries skirt current environmental laws (the effect of this legislation) can energy prices come down and foreign dependency be reduced.

There was a notable disregard for the issue of market dynamics and the positive effect of increased competition on oil prices. Consolidation in the oil production, importing and refining markets has coincided with an increase over the last several years of nearly 100% in prices at the pump. The top oil companies are making record profits, as much as 90% above just last year. The rate of profit gain is significantly ahead of the price increases currently straining the economy.

These factors raise the serious question about the inevitability of increased competition from new and renewable energy resources. The long-term costs, the need for punitive taxation, are significantly reduced by clean, non-polluting energy resources, such as wind and solar-voltaic power. The Earth Policy Institute notes that as long ago as 1991, the Department of Energy itself reported that just 3 states had the harnessable wind energy necessary to satisfy the nation's electricity demand. Since then, the extraction capability of wind turbines has advanced several-fold, and it is now estimated that a developed wind-energy infrastructure could satisfy not only all US electricity demand, but all domestic energy needs.

Rep. James Oberstar noted that the Secretary of Energy would become the final incontrovertible authority on implementation of the Clean Water Act. His power would be so sweeping that any regulatory obstacle encountered by energy-producers could be appealed directly to him, and he would have complete authority to overrule any regulatory ruling enforcing pollution standards. Mr. Oberstar said the Sec. of Energy would in effect become the nation's "Environmental Czar".

Protection of wetlands, open navigation routes, clean air, clean water and conservation standards would all be subject to the individual discretion of the Secretary of Energy. There is no requirement in the legislation that the Sec. of Energy provide any scientific, statistical or even legal evidence favoring a decree overruling all environmental policy. In effect, petitioners (oil refineries) would be granted total primacy of interest in all considerations, with no structure in place to ascertain whether petitioners are in fact facing prohibitive and extralegal restrictions to their profits, or whether they are simply seeking to artificially inflate profits by circumventing existing laws.

The bill's supporters repeatedly cited projections that domestic consumption of refined petroleum products will soar by 2025, without noting that such estimates include the government's long-standing and currently official sluggishness in development of clean and renewable resources. What appears not to be considered in the current legislation is what effect incentivizing renewable energy would have on both future demand for petroleum and current market prices for gasoline and other fossil fuels.