House passes energy measure

WASHINGTON – Pushing to chart a new national energy policy, House Democrats on Saturday passed trailblazing legislation that would require the nation’s utilities to generate more electricity from clean energy sources, such as the wind and the sun.

And in another indicator of the changed political landscape on Capitol Hill, they stripped the oil and gas industries of $16 billion in tax incentives and voted to apply those tax breaks to efforts to spur production of cleaner forms of energy.

The energy measures passed in a final burst of activity before lawmakers were to adjourn for their summer recess this weekend.

The energy legislation, part of a broad energy package that congressional Democrats hope to send to the president later this year, would mark the first time the federal government has set a national standard for so-called renewables.

If enacted into law, the bill would mandate that utilities generate roughly 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Power plants account for about a third of the carbon dioxide emissions – the leading contributor to global warming – in the United States.

“We are turning toward the future,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has made legislation to combat global warming a top priority. “This beautiful planet is God’s gift to us. We have a moral responsibility to preserve it.”

The renewable energy bill passed 241-172, with 26 Republicans joining with Democrats Saturday to back the new standard. The tax package passed 221-189, with nine Republicans joining Democrats. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Bill Sali, R-Idaho, voted against both measures.

The House energy legislation must still be reconciled with an energy bill that passed the Senate in June – a version without a renewable requirement or the removal of tax breaks for Big Oil.

The bill faces a veto from the White House, which criticized it Friday for failing to address high energy costs or to promote domestic energy production.

But the measure marks a dramatic turn for U.S. energy policy and is a sharp contrast to the energy bill passed in 2005 by the Republican-controlled Congress. That legislation emphasized greater production of traditional energy sources, such as coal, oil and nuclear power.

The House bill complements the Senate’s energy legislation, which made environmental history in June by increasing the average fuel-efficiency requirements for cars for the first time in nearly two decades.

“This is a dramatic first step,” said Marchant Wentworth, a legislative representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The energy bill saves consumers money, creates jobs and makes a down payment on reducing the threat of global warming.”

With the public increasingly concerned about global warming and U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the Democrats have made energy a priority since they assumed the majority on Capitol Hill in January.

The package passed Saturday is less ambitious than Pelosi initially promised – a reflection of the difficulty of forging consensus on energy policy, an issue that often divides lawmakers by region as much as party.

House Democratic leaders had to put off, until the fall, decisions on two of the most controversial proposals – capping emissions on power plants and raising vehicle mileage standards.

They still faced a steady barrage of criticism from House Republicans – and some Democrats – who complained that the legislation did not support the domestic coal, oil and nuclear industries, which they argued offer the best chance of reducing U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

“There is no supply in this bill,” said Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., a champion of converting coal to liquid as an alternative to gasoline.

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the groups opposed to the renewable requirement, said in a letter to lawmakers that the bill could “raise electricity prices for all consumers, result in a wealth transfer among states, and impose new burdens on the reliability of our nation’s electric grid.”

The White House has said that the standards are “best left to states.”

But proponents argued that a national standard would meet the national interest of combating global warming and making the country less dependent on oil from the volatile Middle East.

“This … will save consumers money, stimulate our economy and strengthen our national security,” said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., the leading sponsor of the renewable standard.

Currently, only about 3 percent of the nation’s energy comes from renewable energy sources, excluding hydropower.

The energy package approved Saturday contained a wide range of other measures.

They include a $6 billion bond program to aid state and local governments in financing “green” projects.

The bill would require light bulbs sold by 2020 to be three times more efficient than today’s incandescent bulb and would promote the development of energy from ocean waves.

It would authorize $1.7 million for public transit agencies to entice commuters out of their cars and would increase federal support for purchase of buses powered by cleaner fuels.

It would close the “Hummer tax loophole,” which critics say has given businesses tax incentives to buy the largest gas-gulping sport utility vehicles. And it would authorize a “carbon audit” of the tax code, a study to find ways to use the tax code to reduce emissions.