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Gregg: Bill Doesn't Encourage Enough Conservation
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a wide-ranging energy bill on Tuesday, but the legislation did not carry the support of New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu. The two Republicans voted with the minority, 85-12. Gregg said Tuesday's bill "does not include enough responsible measures for conservation and renewable sources." He added that the bill "spends money we do not have, and includes too many handouts benefiting special interests. The total cost of the bill, around $16 billion, is three times what the president has requested and twice as much as the House energy bill," Gregg said. Last week, Gregg and Sununu voted against an amendment that requires the nation's power utilities to produce at least 10 percent of their electricity from wind, solar, wood or other renewable energy sources. "The federal government should not be in the business of mandating which sources of energy are utilized to make up this country's power grid," Sununu said Tuesday. "These choices should be made in a competitive market place where the distorting effects of government subsidies are minimized. "If we simply set firm health-based standards for polluting emissions, then in the long-run, renewable and clean-burning sources of energy will be rewarded," Sununu said. Lawmakers acknowledged that the energy bill would do little, if anything, in the short run to stem the soaring cost of energy including oil that this week has eclipsed $60 a barrel and gasoline that last week averaged $2.22 a gallon at the pump, according to the Energy Department. The bill faces an uncertain future. It differs sharply from House legislation passed in April on oil production and conservation efforts. The Senate's version skirts some of the most contentious energy issues facing Congress, such as drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It also doesn't address giving aid to oil companies and refiners who want protection against lawsuits because one of their products, the gasoline additive MTBE, has contaminated drinking water in hundreds of communities. House leaders have insisted that an MTBE waiver be part of energy legislation.