WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's energy plan ignited a political firestorm on Capitol Hill on Thursday, one likely to rage into the 2002 congressional elections.
Republican leaders vowed to move quickly to draft and enact legislation to help implement Bush's drive to meet the nation's energy needs, largely by eliminating barriers to gas and coal power and opening up land to oil drilling.
But Democrats lined up against much of the plan as an unwarranted giveaway to special interests that would provide no immediate relief to consumers faced with rising prices at the gasoline pump or residents of energy-starved California, Oregon and Washington state.
Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of a House of Representatives energy subcommittee, dismissed the Democratic criticism saying, "This is going to be the 'Energy Congress."'
"We're glad to have the president's ideas on the problems we're facing and it's time to get the work done," Barton said during one of a series of dueling Democratic and Republican news conferences on Capitol Hill to debate Bush's proposal.
House Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas blamed the "energy crunch" on eight years of inaction by President Bill Clinton's administration, and hailed Bush for moving to "unify our nation around a comprehensive energy strategy that protects our consumers and strengthens our national security."
House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri shot back, "We think the president's plan makes the wrong choices for America and for the American people."
"It was crafted behind closed doors with a lot of input from energy executives and in a highly secretive way that doesn't serve the public interest," Gephardt said.
"It focuses on drilling and production at the expense of our environment and conservation, and it does nothing to help people who need relief right now," Gephardt said.
CONGRESS SHARPLY DIVIDED
Ethan Siegal of the Washington Exchange, a private group that tracks politics and legislation on Capitol Hill for institutional investors, said, "This ain't going to be the 'Energy Congress'.... It will be very difficult to get any (energy) legislation through this sharply divided Congress."
He noted Bush crafted his proposal in a way that he can implement most of it through presidential executive orders or action by his own regulatory agencies.
For example, Bush, without congressional approval, will be able to ease the permit process for refinery construction, nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams.
The president would need congressional approval to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for oil exploration, but he is not expected to get it.
He is also certain to have a tough time getting Congress to approve part of his plan giving the government authority to take property through eminent domain for power lines.
"I don't know yet," House Energy Chairman Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican, said when asked if he backed this measure. "I want to see what local and state officials have to say."
Bush received bipartisan praise for proposing tax credits for conservation, such as for the purchase of high-mileage, hybrid gas-electric cars.
Yet a number of Democrats ridiculed the president for proposing that these credits be funded largely through royalties on increased oil exploration rather than setting money aside for it in his own budget or tax-cut bill.
"This is a sham," Gephardt huffed. "If he was really serious about getting started on these things he would surely have included it in his tax bill."
While Republicans and Democrats called for setting aside politics
in dealing with the energy crunch, what they do may well have a big impact
on the 2002 congressional elections.
"You want to talk nuclear," Siegal said. "That's what the American
people are going to do if the price of gasoline keeps on going up."
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, while critical of much Bush's plan, said, "There's a lot there we can work together on."
Sens. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, held a news conference of their own to call for bipartisan cooperation.
Schumer "saluted the president for putting energy on the table," but said a far more balanced approach to the problem was needed, one that put more emphasis on conservation.
"We need compromise," Collins said, "and we need a lot of it."
©Reuters May 17 2001 4:45PM