US Energy Secy expects final energy bill this week
Date: 07-Oct-02
Country: USA
Author: Tom Doggett
Before Congress adjourns this month, lawmakers are trying to finish legislation to carry out the first major overhaul of U.S. policy in a decade. However, the administration may have to settle for a minor rewrite instead of a broad bill.
Negotiators are bogged down on several issues, with the most contentious being whether to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) - a top priority for the White House.
"We've always known that ANWR was going to be a very difficult issue to resolve," Abraham told reporters. "There have been an array of very reasonable proposals that have been offered to the opponents of ANWR (drilling). They apparently have no room for compromise to this point."
The Republican-led House supports drilling in the refuge, while the Democratic-controlled Senate wants the frozen tundra kept closed.
Environmentalists argue that the refuge's caribou and other wildlife would be harmed by energy exploration, but oil firms say new drilling technology would leave a small footprint.
House Republicans have failed so far to win over Senate Democrats with a plan to scale back the proposed drilling area in ANWR and designate millions of other acres in the refuge as wilderness to protect it from development.
TALKS TO CONTINUE
Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, who heads the joint Senate-House conference committee working on the bill, said private talks will continue over the weekend. Negotiators will hold a public session on Tuesday, and Tauzin said he expects votes then on some of the bill's major pending sections.
Abraham said President George W. Bush wants to sign an energy bill before Congress adjourns this month. If the legislation falls short of the administration's goals, Abraham said the administration would try to get any remaining energy objectives passed by the new Congress next year.
"I think if we can get a good bill this year, even if it doesn't have everything we want, then we should come back next year," he said. "If it takes more than one bite at the apple to get the rest, that's the way we will proceed."
In addition to ANWR drilling, negotiators must still decide on whether to triple the use of ethanol-blended gasoline, electricity market reforms and billions of dollars in energy tax credits.
Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott said last week it was still possible for lawmakers to finish the energy bill next week. But Alaskan drilling is crucial to boost energy supplies, he said.
"I want to make sure that when we get (a bill) that it's not just a title - National Energy Policy - with nothing that produces energy underneath it," Lott said.
Abraham said the Bush administration has not given up on opening the Arctic refuge to oil drilling.
Still, he said the administration was frustrated that drilling opponents won't consider the national security implications of access to ANWR oil that would make the United States less dependent on foreign crude imports.
"It just seems to me there a lot of ways that we could find some (ANWR) compromise here if people are willing to compromise at all," he said.