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NRDC Calls on House to Reject
Anti-Environmental, Anti-Consumer Republican Energy
Bills
WASHINGTON (July 11, 2001) - House Republican leaders
launched a new assault on public health and the environment
today in the form of two pro-industry energy bills. The House
Energy and Commerce Committee is considering a bill sponsored
by Louisiana Rep. W.J. "Billy" Tauzin that would increase
power plant air pollution and squander taxpayer dollars to
subsidize coal and nuclear energy, according to NRDC (Natural
Resources Defense Council). Meanwhile, the House Resource
Committee is reviewing an energy bill sponsored by the
committee's chairman, James Hansen of Utah, which would
undermine environmental safeguards and boost the energy
industry's already bloated profits. NRDC today released a
critique of the Hansen bill.
Tauzin's bill, "The Energy Advancement and Conservation
Act," contains numerous provisions that would threaten the
environment and public health. For example, it includes costly
financial credits for so-called clean coal technologies that
would increase coal-fired power plant pollution. Coal-fired
power plants emit more dangerous air pollution -- including
more than 60 toxic chemicals -- than any other industry,
contributing to asthma, mercury poisoning, acid rain and
global warming. Rather than mandate new reductions in
coal-generated air emissions, the bill would reward coal
companies merely for meeting the requirements of the Clean Air
Act.
"Billy Tauzin's bill handsomely rewards the coal industry
while failing to support sensible and achievable improvements
in energy efficiency," said Alyssondra Campaigne, NRDC's
legislative director. "The bill offers no relief for consumers
facing high energy bills, but guarantees they will be
breathing more toxic air pollution."
Campaigne acknowledged that Tauzin's bill does contain
modest provisions for energy efficiency, but pointed out that
those provisions hardly represent a comprehensive energy
efficiency and renewable energy package. By failing to require
comprehensive controls on power plant pollution -- including
carbon dioxide -- the bill ignores the link between global
warming and energy production. The bill also lacks strong
efficiency standards for appliances and buildings, funding to
enhance investment in energy efficiency programs, and a
requirement that 20 percent of the nation's energy be derived
from renewable energy by 2020. Moreover, the bill fails to
increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, the
single biggest step Congress can take to reduce global warming
and curb our nation's appetite for finite oil resources. NRDC
says that increasing CAFE requirements to 40-miles per gallon
would save drivers $10 billion in fuel costs annually and 3
million barrels of oil per day, as well as reduce carbon
dioxide pollution by nearly 2 million tons over 10 years.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton testified in support of
Hansen's bill, "The Energy Security Act" (H.R.2436), at a
House Resource Committee hearing this morning. The bill calls
for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the
eastern Gulf of Mexico and other environmentally sensitive
public lands that are currently off-limits to oil and gas
development. In addition to overriding federal environmental
protections on public lands, the bill would allow the oil and
gas industry to seek federal reimbursement for application
costs associated with drilling on public lands, as well as for
the costs of mandatory environmental compliance for oil, gas
and geothermal development.
"Americans want affordable energy and a clean environment,
both of which can be achieved through a balanced national
energy plan," said Campaigne. "But the Hansen bill is a
payback to the energy industry, which shoveled millions into
Republican campaign coffers last year. Our energy policy
should not focus on padding industry profits at the expense of
environmental protection."
Earlier this year NRDC published a comprehensive energy
plan, "A Responsible Energy Policy for the 21st Century,"
which shows that we can meet U.S. energy needs -- without
rolling back environmental safeguards or despoiling pristine
wilderness and marine areas -- through greater reliance on
natural gas, renewable energy sources and energy
efficiency.
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a
national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and
environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public
health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more
than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New
York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Related NRDC Pages
Slower,
Costlier and Dirtier: A Critique of the Bush Energy
Plan
A
Responsible Energy Policy for the 21st Century