[greenyes] ANWR reprised

["Wayne Turner" <WAYNET@no.address>]

Greenyes,

Can anyone tell me how the lawmakers came up with the punch list of
items to regulate as detailed in paragraph seven (7) below.  At first
blush, these items don't appear to be huge electrical energy consumers,
relatively speaking.  Is it because most of the items are 'on' nearly
100% of the time?  You'd think there were many more energy intense
devices out there with much more conservation potential.

Wayne Turner
City/County Utilities
Winston-Salem, NC
336.747-7320
waynet@no.address 


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U.S. House panel mulls energy bill, ANWR vote set 

02 April 2003
By Tom Doggett, Reuters

WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday moved
forward with legislation to implement parts of the Bush administration's
national energy plan, and a separate House panel was poised to approve
the president's request to open an Alaskan refuge to oil drilling.

Republican lawmakers are hoping to send the White House the first
comprehensive energy bill in 11 years. Updating U.S. energy policy has
taken on more urgency since the start of the war with Iraq.

"This legislation is absolutely critical in securing our national
security (and) may be the most important bill Congress considers this
year," said Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, who chairs the energy and
commerce panel.

Many Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups argue the
legislation favors energy firms and doesn't do enough to implement
energy conservation measures.

"This bill tips the balance in favor of the industry," said Rep. John
Dingell, the top Democrat on the panel.

The committee Tuesday debated and voted on sections of a massive energy
bill that Tauzin is shepherding through the House. The panel's first
action was to clear the legislation's energy conservation title, which
calls for rebates to consumers who buy energy efficient appliances.

The bill also requires the government to come up with regulations to
reduce the amount of energy used by emergency exit signs in buildings,
traffic signals, ceiling fans, vending machinesm and commercial
refrigerators and freezers.

Other sections of the bill would double the production of
ethanol-blended gasoline, authorize a pipeline to ship Alaskan natural
gas to the lower 48 states, increase the reliability of the U.S.
electric grid, implement President Bush's hydrogen-powered car program,
and expand the size of the U.S. emergency oil stockpile by 43 percent to
1 billion barrels.

NO BOOST IN VEHICLE FUEL ECONOMY

Noticeably absent from the House bill is language to increase the fuel
economy standards for automobiles and gas-guzzling sport utility
vehicles.

The committee voted 31 to 18 against an amendment from Democratic Rep.
Henry Waxman of California to slash U.S. oil consumption by 2010 by
600,000 barrels per day, the average amount of oil the United States
imported from Iraq during the last five years.

The U.S. market consumes about 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum
products a day, with 60 percent from imports.

The energy and commerce committee will continue debating the energy
bill on Wednesday, when panel members are expected to spend a large part
of the day reviewing the legislation's electricity provisions.

Also missing from the bill is the centerpiece of the Bush
administration's national energy plan: drilling for oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge.

That issue will be taken up Wednesday by the House Resources Committee,
which is scheduled to vote on legislation allowing oil exploration in
the Arctic refuge. The ANWR drilling legislation will be folded into the
House's broader energy bill. The Senate last month voted against giving
oil companies access to the refuge.

The chairman of the Senate Energy Committee said he won't include ANWR
drilling language in the energy bill his panel will begin debating next
week. Nonetheless, Senate Republicans are expected to try to modify to
the bill in the committee to open the refuge.

The Bush administration wants to tap ANWR's potential 16 billion
barrels of oil to help reduce dependence on foreign crude imports.

The Senate Finance Committee is also set to vote Wednesday on a package
of $16 billion in energy tax incentives that will eventually be folded
into the Senate's comprehensive energy bill.

The finance panel's legislation would extend a wind energy production
tax credit to 2007, provide tax credits to small oil and natural gas
producers when energy prices are low, and extend the ethanol tax credit
to small cooperative producers.

The full Senate and House are expected to vote on their respective
energy bills later this spring. If approved, the differences in each
measure will have to be hammered out by lawmakers and again be voted on
by each chamber before final legislation can be sent to the president
for his signature.