|  On
April 27th, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici filed
the authorizing portion of S. 2095 as a second-degree amendment to a Daschle ethanol
amendment to S. 150 filed earlier in the day. However, the Domenici amendment
does NOT include the tax portion. The tax portion of S. 2095 has been attached
to the FSC-ETI bill, slated for floor consideration early next week.
In
a floor speech, Domenici welcomed the opportunity for Senate debate and vote on
the comprehensive authorizing package. He told senators that the comprehensive
package offers targeted solutions to America's urgent and various energy challenges.
The authorizing package will encourage production of domestic oil, development
of more natural gas and the use of renewable fuels. It designs and deploys an
array of advanced technologies, including clean coal technology, Domenici said.
It invests in hydrogen research and does more than any law to conserves energy
and increases efficiency. The package also expands research and development into
better use of existing energies and the development of future energies. The
authorizing portion of S. 2095 is a leaner version of H.R. 6 with several notable
changes: It does not include safe harbor for MTBE or ethanol. The directed spending
is stripped out or delayed until the out years. The cost of the authorizing portion
has been reduced from $5 billion to a net savings of $1.2 billion over 10 years
according to the FY 04 budget resolution baseline. (These numbers will change
when the FY 05 budget is adopted.) A detailed list of the changes can be found
in the press release section of the energy committee home page. The
National Grange supports passage of Comprehensive National Energy Legislation.
The 2004 National Grange Blueprint for Rural America explains, in part, the National
Grange's action plan for comprehensive energy legislation that are fully or partially
covered in S.2095: Achieve
Energy Security for Rural America --- Action Plan 1.
Promote biodiesel, ethanol, biomass and wind energies derived from America's family
farms. 2. Develop
energy resources on public lands in rural areas in an environmentally sound manner.
3. Support voluntary
energy conservation for rural areas such as telecommuting, public transportation
and car/van pools instead of "global warming" regulations that increase costs
to farmers and consumers.
4. Support electricity industry restructuring/reliability proposals that preserve
the special relationship that regional power suppliers, as well as rural electric
cooperatives and rural public utility districts have with their customers.
A Vote on Ending the Filibuster is Expected Today.
Please Urge Your Senators to Support the Authorizing Portion of S. 2095! Find
Your Senators If
you have any questions or comments please contact Legislative Research Analyst
Chil-Sook Hwang by fax: 202-347-1091
or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext 109. Thank
you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative program.
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