It's now official
The Republican side of the House is now, officially, a subsidiary of big oil. Anytime you see a piece of legislation called the "Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005", it should set off your Orwell alarm.
Normally, the Speaker calls a vote, and the yeas and nays are counted after 5 minutes or so. But voting on this bill was held open for another 50 minutes. There's a precedent for this -- voting was also held open on CAFTA and the changes to Medicare, both of which would have been defeated had the voting been held to the normal time.
I'm pleased to report that every Democrat present voted against the Bill, HR 3893. Unfortunately, the House Republican Leadership was able, given the 50 minutes, to get three Republicans to change their votes from Nay to Yea.
So what's in the bill? You can read it in its entirety here. In short, it does the following:
The EPA Administrator can give money to states to hire people to work towards getting more refineries built. (So much for any thought that the Environmental Protection Agency still exists to, say, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.)
The President is to pick Federal lands where he wants to put the new refineries within 90 days. It's largely discretionary. Three of the sites have to be closed military installations. The governors of the states chosen by the President can object, and Congress can overrule them. (Anyone think they know how the residents of the Yucca Mountain area feel right now?) At least it exempts National Parks and National Monuments.
The President can waive state and local requirements of fuel additives for a period of up to 90 days. (Aren't these the folks with the hard-on for the 10th amendment?)
The Department of Energy will reduce the fuel blends and types of Reformulated Gasolines and Diesel fuels down to six. In other words, communities won't be able to specify what kind of gasoline or diesel fuel reformulations they want to require. So Chicago gets the same kind of reformulated gas as every other metropolitan area. I understand that consolidation reduces costs, I just shudder to think about how the formulas will be selected and which heavy Republican donor is going to walk away with the contract for it.
The act allows the Secretary of the Interior to subsidize crude oil by as much as $4.50 per barrel to small refineries that can show they had excess capacity, presumably to account for the additional transportation cost to get the fuel to the small refinery.
The government can allow burning of biomass debris for energy generation following a natural disaster.
There's what appears to be a provision for the government to pay for the weatherproofing of pipeline facilities in areas prone to natural disasters. There's also some goodies for the coal industry in the form of $850,000 to build a prototype coal fuel cell.
Folks, there's a reason why every Democrat voted against this bill. It's an excuse to give money, and Federal land to big oil, which has been one of the most profitable industries in the country over the past few years.
In the past, refineries have increased their capacities by improving their productivity, and they're starting to reach diminishing returns. Unfortunately, there's a reason why new refineries haven't been built. They're notorious polluters. There's a reason why they call I-10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge "Cancer Alley."
This is the third time that the Republicans in Congress have extended a deadline to twist arms for legislation which most Americans wouldn't want if they knew what was in it. So take a minute, read through HR 3893, and let's get to work getting the people who voted for it and twisted the arms voted out of office.
Normally, the Speaker calls a vote, and the yeas and nays are counted after 5 minutes or so. But voting on this bill was held open for another 50 minutes. There's a precedent for this -- voting was also held open on CAFTA and the changes to Medicare, both of which would have been defeated had the voting been held to the normal time.
I'm pleased to report that every Democrat present voted against the Bill, HR 3893. Unfortunately, the House Republican Leadership was able, given the 50 minutes, to get three Republicans to change their votes from Nay to Yea.
So what's in the bill? You can read it in its entirety here. In short, it does the following:
The EPA Administrator can give money to states to hire people to work towards getting more refineries built. (So much for any thought that the Environmental Protection Agency still exists to, say, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.)
The President is to pick Federal lands where he wants to put the new refineries within 90 days. It's largely discretionary. Three of the sites have to be closed military installations. The governors of the states chosen by the President can object, and Congress can overrule them. (Anyone think they know how the residents of the Yucca Mountain area feel right now?) At least it exempts National Parks and National Monuments.
The President can waive state and local requirements of fuel additives for a period of up to 90 days. (Aren't these the folks with the hard-on for the 10th amendment?)
The Department of Energy will reduce the fuel blends and types of Reformulated Gasolines and Diesel fuels down to six. In other words, communities won't be able to specify what kind of gasoline or diesel fuel reformulations they want to require. So Chicago gets the same kind of reformulated gas as every other metropolitan area. I understand that consolidation reduces costs, I just shudder to think about how the formulas will be selected and which heavy Republican donor is going to walk away with the contract for it.
The act allows the Secretary of the Interior to subsidize crude oil by as much as $4.50 per barrel to small refineries that can show they had excess capacity, presumably to account for the additional transportation cost to get the fuel to the small refinery.
The government can allow burning of biomass debris for energy generation following a natural disaster.
There's what appears to be a provision for the government to pay for the weatherproofing of pipeline facilities in areas prone to natural disasters. There's also some goodies for the coal industry in the form of $850,000 to build a prototype coal fuel cell.
Folks, there's a reason why every Democrat voted against this bill. It's an excuse to give money, and Federal land to big oil, which has been one of the most profitable industries in the country over the past few years.
In the past, refineries have increased their capacities by improving their productivity, and they're starting to reach diminishing returns. Unfortunately, there's a reason why new refineries haven't been built. They're notorious polluters. There's a reason why they call I-10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge "Cancer Alley."
This is the third time that the Republicans in Congress have extended a deadline to twist arms for legislation which most Americans wouldn't want if they knew what was in it. So take a minute, read through HR 3893, and let's get to work getting the people who voted for it and twisted the arms voted out of office.
2 Comments:
yes, this bill will help out those poor, poor, poor oil industries from their miseries. What a bunch of shite. And plenty of incentives for solar, wind bio-diesel, and other alternative fules too, right?
My only hope is that the American public remembers this boondoggle in 2006.
The truth here is that this is one of the times we've seen the Republicans NOT march in lockstep. Hopefully this also shows an erosion in Tom DeLay's power.
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