Link to full story here:

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/us/energy_policy

also:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/28/news/ec ... tm?cnn=yes


House Approves Massive Energy Bill
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
June 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - The House by a wide margin approved a mammoth energy plan for the nation Thursday that sends billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to energy companies, but is expected to do little to reduce U.S. oil consumption or dampen high energy prices.

The bill was approved 275-156. Congress now awaits action by the Senate, probably on Friday. The White House said President Bush looks forward to signing it into law.

The 1,725-page bill, the product of weeks of compromise between widely different versions approved by the two chambers earlier this year, would provide $14.5 billion in energy tax breaks, much of it to traditional energy companies. It also provides money for promoting renewable energy sources and new energy technologies and measures to revitalize the nuclear power industry.

But opponents called the legislation a giveaway of taxpayer money to large energy companies, including wealthy oil giants reaping record profits with crude oil near $60 a barrel and gasoline averaging well over $2 a gallon.

"This bill is packed with royalty relief, tax breaks, loan guarantees for the wealthiest energy companies in America even as they are reporting the largest quarterly profits of any corporation in the history of the United States," complained Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

"It is politically and morally wrong," he said.

The bill would funnel $2.7 billion in tax breaks to the oil and gas industries and provide additional support in form of royalty relief, including $500 million over 10 years for research into drilling in extremely deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

"The oil and gas companies don't need incentives with oil and gas prices being what they are today," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday.

Among the provisions most apparent to consumers are its call to extend daylight saving time by one month and tax breaks for making homes more energy efficient and for hybrid gas-electric cars.

Other major provisions in the legislation include:

• Subsidies and tax breaks for wind, geothermal and solar industries and technology aimed at making coal more environmentally friendly.

• Easing the way for more imports of liquefied natural gas by giving federal regulators final say over import terminals.

• Spurring construction of new nuclear power reactors by offering loan guarantees and "risk insurance" against regulatory delays for the initial units to be built.

• A nationwide inventory of offshore oil and gas resources. Critics said they're concerned the inventory may lead to drilling in areas now off limits.


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Sure they want to pass it, so all of their Energy co. stock goes up.....

Bend over kids, because we and our wallets and our land and oceans are about to be f'd harder than we ever have before....

We're so eternally fucked.... I'm officially a "grumpy old person"
(~ waves cane violently at the world from wheel-chair as old white guys run laughing to the bank ~)

i'll have to tell my grandpa to buy more energy company stock after an announcement like this.

i guess i can't call myself jaded or too cynical yet, cuz stuff like this still gets to me. in a few more years i may be too far gone though.

this would be exhibit a) in proving the power of lobbyists/lobbying.

2010 . . .

Exactly.

Im dissappointed for sure, but is this any surprise to anyone?

the US gov. helps out big oil... not really a shocker, but still disheartning to see.

I noticed you bolded the Nuclear revitilization section. I live very close to a nuclear power plant (close enough that there are warning sirens in case there was a problem). I've read up a bit on it and I'm not sure nuclear energy is a bad thing. I support it as an alternative to fossil fuels, although seeing the government push for research for a new, fully-renewable source of energy would be best. For now, Nuclear energy is probably the best alternative energy source.

No, because every nuclear power plant is just a Chernobyl waiting to happen.

I wouldn't want to live next to one. I just moved away from an area about 10 miles from Brookhaven labs on LI. They had a small reactor for lab research use only which closed in 1996. Turns out radioactivite water had been seeping into the ground/ground water for years. It also turned out that it was known about for quite a while and nothing was done about it. Big surprise the breast cancer rate in the surrounding population is amongst the highest in the nation. No way would I trust our Govt. to run a Nuclear plant safely, especially not in my backyard.
Hydrogen fuel seems a better alternative to me. Oddly enough, the President seemed to agree in 2003.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases ... 206-2.html

There's your problem.

Seriously, though, the NRC are the biggest Regulation Nazis known to mankind. I don't know what the deal with that little research power plant was, but a full-scale commercial power plant cannot do anything without the NRC approving each and every detail. Also, the modern safety systems are absolutely phenomenal. The track each and every valve, and record each and every fluctuation, so they can tell exactly what is going on at all times.

Then you buy a house next to one. I'm sure it will be dirt cheap.

Who said they need to build houses next to them?

And for the record, I would much rather live next door to a nuclear plant than a coal or natural gas plant.

I've heard this before, about the labs in Brookhaven. Do you know if they ever wound up doing anything about it?

After the reactor was shut down, the surrounded area was tested and enough contaminated water removed to bring it back within acceptable standards.
This was published in 1997 detaling some of the cleanup.
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/1997 ... 02397.html

A lot of the higher ups were fired, if I remember correctly. Last year, money was finally set aside to remove the radioactive material still in the lab.
http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/Broo ... 0apr04.htm

I'm not up on my chemistry / biology, but if they're cleaning it up shouldn't the number of breast cancer cases possibly caused by radioactive material shrink?

Thanks for the links.

Not is they've been drinking the tap water, which comes directly from the aquifer in that area of the Island. I also haven't lived there for a few years, and was really speaking about the time when the reactor was shut down.

That's lovely. I guess the theory makes sense, since NYC gets its water from wells (I believe). Anyway, sorry for derailing this thread.

Actually, I think NYC gets it's water from Upstate reservoirs. And just to get the thread back on track...

that's what we get when we elect an oilman President.

http://www.theskyiscrape.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=18534

We had a nice debate on this there. Good arguments on both sides.

Oh, and I see that capitalism is being compromised once again. *sigh*

asdf

I don't see what you're all complaining about. The reason these gas companies have record profits is because American's are willing to pay whatever oil megoliths feel like charging. Hasn't this been discussed before? Even when gas was much cheaper? It doesn't matter what the cost is, you're gonna pay it. And why point the finger at the oil companies? Why not point it at the states who add a ridiculous amount of tax all fuel sales?