September 2010 Archives

Should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., seek to pass a renewable electricity standard before this Congress ends?

A bipartisan group of senators led by Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., recently introduced a RES measure that largely resembles the mandate included in the energy-only bill Bingaman's panel passed last summer. It would require utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2021. Utilities would be allowed to use energy efficiency measures to meet a quarter of that requirement.

What are the pros and cons of the measure? Should it be expanded to include nuclear and "clean coal" technology, which many moderate Democrats and most Republicans would prefer? Should the RES be combined with any other legislation, such as a natural gas measure Reid has floated or Home Star, a home efficiency rebate program?

17 responses: Kateri Callahan, Marlo Lewis, David Kreutzer, Amy Harder, Jeff Anderson, Bernard L. Weinstein, Bill Meadows, Frank M. Stewart, Jacqueline Savitz, Rodger Schlickeisen, Tom Amontree, Amy Harder, William O'Keefe, Don Furman, Amy Harder, Denise Bode, Kevin Knobloch

Should the federal government seek to regulate a controversial extraction method for natural gas known as hydraulic fracturing?

The process, dubbed "fracking," involves forcefully shooting water and chemicals into rock formations miles under ground to release trapped natural gas. With possible federal regulation from Congress and EPA looming, environmental groups and the oil and natural gas industry are battling it out. Environmentalists claim the process could contaminate rivers and aquifers, while the natural gas companies point out that the fracking method has been used safely for decades and minimal state regulation should suffice. Hydraulic fracturing has gotten more national attention in the wake of new discoveries of massive amounts of gas, such as the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia.

EPA is currently studying the potential environmental risks of fracking and just completed its final public hearing on the process. It doesn't expect to release a final report until 2012. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have introduced legislation requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, and the gas sector fears that is the beginning of a slew of congressionally mandated regulations.

Between now and when EPA issues its study, what should Congress do about the issue, if anything? What are the potential benefits and detriments the federal government should consider with fracking? The oil and gas sector says fracking will help create thousands of jobs in areas of new shale gas discoveries, like Pennsylvania. How can lawmakers balance the potential massive job creation with the potential environmental risks? Or is that a false choice?

13 responses: Thomas J. Pyle, Peter Lehner, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., Bruce Pasfield, Bill Meadows, Tom Amontree, Amy Harder, Bernard L. Weinstein, Frank M. Stewart, Larry Schweiger, David Holt, William O'Keefe, Barry Russell

Absent climate legislation, what role should the Clean Air Act play in regulating carbon dioxide and other dangerous greenhouse gases?

The landmark environmental law passed 40 years ago this week and was significantly amended 20 years ago. Now EPA is rolling out a number of new Clean Air Act regulations, including ones cutting carbon emissions from automobiles and power plants, reducing air pollution across state lines, and setting technology-based standards for certain industrial polluters. But Republicans and moderate Democrats are seeking to either strip or suspend EPA's power to regulate emissions. And some lawmakers and officials in the business and utility sectors are worried about all the regulations the agency has coming down the pike, not just those targeting carbon emissions. Environmentalists, meanwhile, are defending the EPA's regulatory authority, especially in the absence of a comprehensive climate bill.

What effect will the forthcoming regulations have on the electric and transportation sectors? What are the major challenges these industries face in attempting to meet the new requirements? Should Congress rein EPA in? Is the agency's power elevated with Congress unable to pass a climate bill?

11 responses: Donna Harman, Richard Revesz, Kevin S. Curtis, Jennifer Morgan, Amy Harder, Amy Harder, Carl Pope, Michael Bradley, Bill Meadows, William O'Keefe, Bill Snape

What other environmental and energy legislation should Congress address now that a comprehensive climate policy has stalled in the Senate?

Numerous bills have been introduced, and in some cases passed out of committee, that take a more piecemeal approach than recent cap-and-trade measures. These include a bill by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., that would require utilities to cut emissions of three traditional air pollutants (mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide); an electric vehicle measure by Alexander and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; and a House bill that ramps up R&D for a variety of energy technologies. Other issues that may emerge this fall include a low carbon fuel standard and an ethanol mandate, which the administration has said it will decide on in November.

With just a few months left in this Congress and much of that time dominated by the midterm elections, should lawmakers redirect their efforts to smaller measures? What are the benefits or drawbacks of more piecemeal legislation? Should Congress continue pushing on cap-and-trade legislation or a renewable electricity standard, both of which fell victim to partisan politics over the summer?

9 responses: Rhone Resch, Kevin Knobloch, Gregory C. Staple, Brian Wynne, Teryn Norris, Don Furman, Lewis Hay, William O'Keefe, Denise Bode