Copyright 2001 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company The Houston Chronicle
May 11, 2001, Friday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 1
LENGTH:
769 words
HEADLINE: Energy task force addresses
gasoline, renewable power
SOURCE: Houston
Chronicle News Services
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY: WASHINGTON - The Bush
administration's energy task force will urge relaxing clean air requirements to
help refiners meet gasoline demand, and call for tax breaks for some renewable
energy such as wind and solar panels, according to government sources.
The refinery proposal is aimed at addressing a petroleum
industry complaint that federal and local air quality rules often require
production of slightly different blends of gasoline, putting added strain on the
supply and distribution systems.
The so-called boutique
blends of gasoline have been the subject of vigorous complaints from refiners,
who argue that they are not needed to meet federal air quality goals and prevent
shifting of gasoline supplies where they are most needed.
It was not clear Thursday whether the proposal would assume a waiver in
some cases of reformulated gasoline, which accounts for about a third of the
gasoline sold nationwide. This cleaner gasoline contains an oxygen additive and
is required in areas with serious pollution problems.
The energy task force is headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Cheney task force, which will present its report to
President Bush next week, also will propose regulatory relief for construction
of nuclear power plants and tax incentives for development of technologies that
make coal less polluting.
Both nuclear and coal, which
together account for nearly three-fourths of the electricity produced, are
essential to meet future energy needs, the task force will declare. While urging
expanded development of natural gas, the report will warn against relying too
heavily on a single energy source, including natural gas.
While the energy blueprint will focus heavily on long-range plans to
boost energy supplies, the administration in recent weeks has scurried to
include additional conservation and energy efficiency measures.
Fearing a backlash from environmentalists, Republicans and Democrats in
Congress have urged the administration to not ignore efficiency and renewable
energy sources.
"We need a balanced approach. We need
renewables and conservation," said Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairman of
the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who also is an advocate for the
measures to expand supplies including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge.
The task force will urge Congress to approve
drilling in the refuge.
The task force's efficiency and
renewable proposals will focus heavily on providing tax incentives including tax
breaks for the development and purchase of more fuel-efficient "hybrid"
gas-electric automobiles, residential solar panels, wind generation, and
development of hydrogen fuel cells, according to sources who spoke on condition
on anonymity.
On Thursday, the White House said Bush
will be "vigilant" in ensuring consumers are protected from price gouging at the
gas pump this summer and has told federal agencies to be on the lookout for any
wrongdoing by oil companies.
The Bush administration
also appears more open to the possibility of rolling back the 18.4-cent-a-gallon
federal excise fuel tax.
Earlier in the week the White
House said such a proposal was not a quick fix. On Thursday, however, White
House press secretary Ari Fleischer said, "The president did not campaign on
that idea, but he has not closed the door on that entirely."
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Thursday that he had ordered his
staff to investigate reports that oil companies have told their service stations
in California and the Chicago area to be ready to raise gasoline prices to $ 3 a
gallon this summer.
"I think sometimes these can be
self-fulfilling," Abraham said. "They can give people an excuse, perhaps, to
raise prices to levels that aren't appropriate based on actual inventories and
supply. So I'm going to try to trace that down."
Separately, the House took its first action Thursday to try to ease
California's power problems this summer, but in a subcommittee vote rejected
Democratic demands for price controls on Western wholesale electricity.
The bill, approved by an Energy and Commerce subcommittee
by a 17-13 party-line vote, "will not stop blackouts," said Rep. Joe Barton,
R-Ennis, its chief sponsor, but give California some additional tools to boost
supplies this summer.
In a letter to Barton, California
Gov. Gray Davis said the measure "will do little to address our current
situation." He urged approval of price caps on soaring wholesale electricity
prices. Caps were rejected by a 20-12 vote with solid GOP opposition including
the three California Republicans on the subcommittee.
Document 95 of 116. 