Senate OKs bipartisan energy bill

WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly approved an energy bill that would provide tax breaks and incentives to encourage domestic oil and natural-gas production but billions more to boost renewable energy sources, nuclear power and conservation.

After years of partisan bickering over energy policy, the Senate struck a bipartisan deal that would benefit the oil industry and begin to address the concerns of Democrats and environmentalists that more needs to be done to conserve energy and develop cleaner energy alternatives.

For the first time, the Senate went on record calling for mandatory limits on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions linked to global warming, although the resolution is not binding on the Bush administration, which opposes mandatory controls.

The final vote was 85-12. Both of Washington state's senators, Democrats Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, voted for the bill.

By contrast, the energy bill the House approved in April is heavily tilted toward providing incentives for traditional energy production. The House bill also includes protection from defective-product lawsuits for manufacturers of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, which has contaminated drinking water in hundreds of communities. In 2003, the Senate blocked final passage of energy legislation after the House insisted on inclusion of a similar MTBE provision.

President Bush has called on Congress to send him a final bill by August, but the two chambers are far apart on MTBE and several other issues that will complicate negotiations. Bush has sought enactment of comprehensive energy legislation since shortly after taking office in 2001, but twice before lawmakers failed to reach agreement.

Another key difference is the size and beneficiaries of tax breaks. The Senate agreed to provide about $18 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, which is offset by about $4 billion in revenue-generating measures, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The House tax breaks total about $8 billion over 10 years.

Bush said in a statement that the Senate bill "will help our economic growth by addressing the root causes of high energy prices and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy."

But energy analysts and environmentalists said the bill would provide modest relief for consumers and do little to reduce oil imports as oil prices hover at $60 a barrel and gasoline sells for more than $2 a gallon.

"I don't think consumers benefit from corporate welfare, and that's all that these proposals add up to," said Jerry Taylor, director of natural-resource studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, which promotes free-market policies. "With energy prices as high as they are, we don't need to provide any incentives."

The United States imports about 58 percent of the oil it consumes. According to federal projections, that figure will rise steadily as domestic production declines, a result of natural depletion of oil fields. Oil prices have been driven up in the past year as economies in China and elsewhere have boomed and supplies have tightened.

The Senate legislation does not call for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling, as the House version does. Both chambers have approved budget resolutions that call for opening the refuge, which is a top priority of the Bush administration. Final votes must be taken.

Backers of the Senate bill said they hoped it would provide incentives for new technologies and energy sources that eventually could displace oil.

"It should produce new sources of clean energy," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee guided the bill through the Senate with the panel's ranking Democrat, Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.

But Bingaman cautioned that "this bill does not bring down the price of gasoline at the pump in the near term."

Information on how Washington state's senators voted was provided by The Associated Press.