E & E - House GOP Brings Back 'All of the Above' as Response to Dem's Energy Agenda

E & E: House GOP Brings Back 'All of the Above' as Response to Dem's Energy Agenda

JUNE 10, 2009

House GOP Brings Back 'All of the Above' as Response to Dems' Energy Agenda
By Alex Kaplun, E&E reporter
House Republicans today revived their "all of the above" pitch on energy policy, putting out an energy plan built around increased development of nuclear, fossil fuels and alternative energy, but no direct effort to limit carbon emissions.

The 152-page bill from the GOP leaders leans on many of the same policies Republicans have pointed to in the past as the answer to the country's oil dependence and high energy costs. This time around, Republicans framed their effort as distinctly a job creation bill, attempting to strike a contrast to the House Democrats' cap-and-trade bill, which they repeatedly described as a "job killer."

"In the midst of the worst recession and highest unemployment in decades, the Democrats' answer is a national energy tax that will lead to higher energy prices and massive job losses for the American people," said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.). "In short, the Democrats' national energy tax wages economic war on America's families, businesses and family farms, and they deserve better."

Those jabs represent a common refrain for House Republicans during the debate over energy and climate legislation. But the party has also taken some heat for not presenting its own alternative, and Republicans said today that the legislation will be used to present their own vision to the American public.

"This bill essentially says that Republicans are environmentalists," said Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). "That there is a way for us to be conservative and to be green."

The measure proposes a number of steps to increase production of conventional energy supplies, including speeding up the leasing program for offshore drilling, allowing for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, leasing of oil shale resources and streamlining of the refinery permitting process.

On the conservation and efficiency front, the legislation provides tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles, prizes for development of innovative energy technologies, and a series of business and residential tax incentives for energy efficiency.

Additionally, the proposal lays out steps to speed up licensing for nuclear power plants, setting a target of building 100 new nuclear power plants over the next 20 years. Indeed, Republicans repeatedly pointed to nuclear power as a key part of any effort to address the country's energy and environment concerns, and blasted Democrats for not including any substantial nuclear-related language in their energy bill.

"If my colleagues were serious, they would aggressively move and encourage and incentivize nuclear power," said Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.). "But again, all there is silence on the expansion of nuclear power."

The legislation, however, does not contain any kind of cap-and-trade language or any other mandatory reductions in carbon emissions. Republicans, however, said that increased use of renewables -- and nuclear -- would inevitably lead to carbon dioxide reductions and that the cap-and-trade plan put forward by Democrats would likely do little to address the issue.

"At the end of the day, we're going to do more for the environment with this all-of-the-above approach than they are with their cap and trade to help clean up the environment," Boehner said.

House Republicans said they would try to get a vote on their legislation at some point this summer, though there was no word on exactly how they would accomplish that goal.

Meanwhile, House Democratic staffers circulated a memo yesterday that described the Republican plan as a "rehash of failed energy policies." The memo pointed out that energy prices rose dramatically under the previous administration's energy plan and claimed that the Democratic bill would create jobs and reduce costs to consumers.