Senate energy fight seen on drilling, fuel standard
Date: 06-Mar-02
Country: USA
Author: Tom Doggett
Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil companies or significantly boosting fuel standards for car and light trucks in order to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil is expected to be the biggest fight in the Senate's efforts to overhaul American energy policy.
"The advocates related to both issues are sufficiently passionate. I don't think it's realistic to think you're going to get a trade-off," said Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.
Bingaman, who chairs the energy panel, made his comments during a conference call to discuss the energy bill that the Senate is scheduled to begin debating this week.
The Democratic-sponsored energy bill would raise the combined Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard for cars and light trucks from the current 25 miles per gallon (mpg) to 35 mpg by 2013.
This would save more than 2 million barrels of oil a day, much more than the amount of crude that could be drilled in ANWR, Democrats contend.
Republicans are against such a big boost in mileage requirements, fearing vehicles would be too costly and made less safe from lighter-weighted materials to meet the new standard.
Instead, they argue the best way to cut back on foreign oil is by tapping the Arctic refuge's crude reserves, which government estimates put as high as 16 billion barrels. That equals the amount of oil the United States would import from Iraq for 50 years at current rates.
With pro-drilling and oil conservation backers entrenched and threatening to filibuster the energy bill if they don't get their way, the chances for compromise are remote, according to Bingaman.
"You're not going to get the people who oppose drilling in ANWR to be less opposed because of something you do on CAFE standards; (or) people who oppose increased CAFE standards to be less opposed if you go ahead and drill ANWR," Bingaman said.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said on Sunday that he has enough votes to block Republicans from adding language to the energy bill that would open the refuge.
When Daschle was asked if drilling in ANWR was dead in the Senate, he responded: "Well, at least right now it is."
Separately, in response to the Enron Corp. fiasco, Bingaman said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California may propose an amendment that would place the type of private energy trading carried out by Enron under government oversight.
The amendment would closely mirror legislation Feinstein introduced in mid-February to repeal the Congressional exemption that allows companies in the so-called "over-the-counter" market to buy and sell electricity, natural gas, oil, gasoline and other energy commodities without disclosing information on those deal to federal regulators.