Energy bill raises Mainers' concerns

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Bart Jansen

The bipartisan energy legislation heading to the Senate this week is a top priority for President Bush and the Republican congressional leadership. But it masks the disputes that scuttled the bill two years ago because of New England pollution concerns.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced Tuesday that energy legislation was next on the agenda. He predicted disputes between the Senate and House over issues like the gasoline additive MTBE could be resolved.

"There are compromises that can satisfy the body politic," Frist said.

Bush has been talking up energy policy, one of his most significant domestic priorities thwarted during his first term. He urged congressional approval before the August recess.

"There's too much politics in Washington, D.C. It's been stuck," Bush said at a Missouri fund raiser on June 2. "For the sake of national security and for the sake of economic security, Congress needs to get me a good energy bill by the recess."

The problem is getting Congress to agree on a policy. The entire Maine delegation - Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Democratic Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud - raised concerns about spending too much to subsidize fossil fuels while doing too little to reduce pollution and conserve energy.

MTBE LOOMS LARGE

In 2003, six Republicans joined most Democrats in filibustering the legislation, which killed it. Besides Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the group included Snowe and Collins, New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu, and Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee.

One of the biggest thorns for New Englanders was a provision protecting manufacturers of the gasoline additive MTBE from lawsuits about groundwater pollution. The House version of that bill even included a retroactive date to prevent lawsuits, which would have killed a case filed by the state of New Hampshire.

"Obviously the treatment of the additive is a major issue in Maine," Collins said. "It's been responsible for contaminating water supplies and it's completely unjustified to give some sort of exemption to the manufacturers when it's costing our water districts in Maine a great deal of money to remove the contaminants."

The House version again includes a provision protecting MTBE manufacturers from lawsuits alleging negligence for water pollution stemming from gas spills. Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay represents Texas, home to leading MTBE manufacturers.

But the lightning rod isn't in the Senate bill and energy committee chairman Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., predicted a compromise would be negotiated.

"We will eventually, sure," he said. "We have to if we're going to get a bill. They know that. We've got to get a compromise."

A provision that remains in Domenici's bill, however, disturbs Snowe. The provision calls for an Interior Department inventory of oil and gas reserves in the Outer Continental Shelf, which Mainers worry will hurt the fishing industry.

"At a time when Maine's fishing industry is facing restrictions and one of the worst red tides in recent history, we should not make matters worse by disturbing this essential marine habitat," Snowe said.

Another aspect of energy policy that raises hackles in Maine will take a different route. The budget that Congress approved would protect legislation to allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from filibuster, despite opposition from the entire Maine delegation.

Domenici said arctic drilling isn't part of the energy legislation and so shouldn't be used as an argument against the bill.

MILEAGE STANDARDS LEFT OUT

What isn't included raises almost as many concerns for Mainers as what was included.

Snowe and Collins have pushed to increase mileage standards for light trucks such as sport-utility vehicles and minivans to match requirements for cars. The proposal has been soundly rejected in the past. But if adopted, the goal is to save 1 million barrels of oil a day.

"That's the single greatest step we could take to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Collins said.

Snowe and Collins also fought to require a certain amount of energy to be produced from renewable resources such as solar or wind power. Already, a dozen lumber plants across the state burn wood chips to generate power and Mainers have proposed turbine projects to harness wind. But setting a requirement has failed in the past.

"I will look at whether this bill strikes the right balance," Collins said. "We need to increase production, but we also need to encourage conservation and energy efficiency."

Another possible sideshow deals with global warming. McCain and Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., have proposed legislation to reduce production of greenhouse gases feared to be driving up the earth's temperature.

They could propose an amendment to the energy bill to curb emissions of carbon dioxide.

"Lastly, I would note the significant absence of any language that addresses climate change - an issue that threatens every nation around the world with the greatest potential impact on coastal areas like Maine," Snowe said.

Washington Correspondent Bart Jansen can be contacted at 202-488-1119 or at:

bjansen@pressherald.com

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