Congress
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Democrats jockey for attention with their latest energy plans
As GOP leaders bluster about gay marriage, flag burning, and the “death tax,” Democrats are struggling to get a word in edgewise about the bevy of proposals they’ve been drafting to address more substantive national concerns — namely, soaring gas prices, dependence on oil from an increasingly volatile Middle East, and global warming. These are […]
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Push to raise fuel-economy standards gaining new support
Cringe as we might over record-high gasoline prices, they could be the best thing to happen to automobile fuel economy since the Arab oil embargo. Nowhere to go but up. The soaring cost of oil in recent weeks has sent Washington lawmakers into an election-year frenzy. Some of their proposals — like one from Senate […]
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Lovin’ Lovins
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on Energy Independence today. Amory Lovins was one of the four witnesses, and his testimony (pdf alert) is worth a read -- even the footnotes.
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Congress and Bush admin push hard to open offshore areas to drilling
Offshore drilling is the new ANWR. With the fight to pry open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge having stalled out (at least for the time being), the oil and gas industry and its cronies in Congress are now focused on parts of the outer continental shelf (OCS) that have been off-limits to drilling for nearly […]
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Bipartisan plan aims to revamp U.S. fisheries law
Congress is plotting its first revamp of fisheries law in nearly a decade — and it’s about time. Every boat counts. Photo: iStockphoto. Scores of fish stocks are dwindling in U.S. waters (as they are around the world), and only one of the eight federal fishing zones in the United States is widely considered to […]
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Obama and a bipartisan crew of colleagues unveil eco-friendly bills on energy
Caterwauling over the Iraq War last week brought Congress to a rancorous new low, drowning out calls from both sides of the aisle for a clean and sane energy future. A handful of senators and reps unveiled proposals pressing for the Bush administration and automakers to shrink America’s outsized energy demands and tackle the climate […]
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Oil drills getting closer than ever to the Arctic Refuge
The future of the Arctic Refuge? “The threat to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has never been greater than it is today,” according to Brian Moore, legislative director for the Alaska Wilderness League. And, though the battle over the refuge has a Groundhog Day quality to it — haven’t we heard this same alarm sounding […]
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Senate’s stab at energy legislation may be more moderate than House bill
A refinery at Anacortes, Wash. “Shame, shame, shame, shame!” That’s the furious chant that erupted from the Democratic section of the House of Representatives last Friday after Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) managed to eke out a victory for his Gasoline for America’s Security (GAS) Act, which would loosen environmental laws and boost industry incentives to […]
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Katrina prompts new energy proposals — some green, most not
Hurricane Katrina has triggered a whirlwind of new energy proposals in Congress — some gratifying to environmental activists, most galling. The long-awaited energy bill that President Bush gleefully signed into law a mere month ago started looking sadly outdated when viewed against a backdrop of slackened oil production along the Gulf Coast, crippled refineries, gasoline […]