Yeah, I know this is a blog mainly about Virginia politics, but there simply are times when anything happening in Virginia politics pales in comparison to what's going down right next door, in our friendly nation's capital. This week, it looks like an "energy" bill is about to pass Congress. I put "energy" in quotes because this pork-barrel monstrosity of a mega-business abomination is as much about "energy" as elevator Muzak is about music. In other words, it's not. What it IS about is pork, pork, and more pork. Oink oink!So, you ask, what's so bad about this bill? Let us count the ways! For starters, how about the bill's environmental problems, courtesy of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV):
This is an energy bill that is unsuitable for the last century, let alone the 21st Century. Not only does the bill fail to take any meaningful steps to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil or ease rising energy costs for consumers, it includes a panoply of tax breaks, subsidies and special interest provisions for big oil and other polluting industries. A particularly egregious provision is the invasive offshore oil and gas inventory, which could pave the way for drilling off our coasts (RaisingKaine note: here's a major Virginia angle, as it could lead to drilling off the coast of our state). It's outrageous that this bill helps line the pockets of the oil and gas industry, which is already making record profits.This bill is bad news for consumers and public health and takes us backwards on critical environmental protections, including the Clean Water Act. The only winners are polluters and special interests who are being showered with taxpayer-funded giveaways.
Once again, Congressional leaders have failed to produce a forward-thinking, secure and clean energy policy. We urge members of Congress to oppose this deeply flawed bill.
Oh, and the LCV didn't even MENTION the fact that the bill contains strong incentives to increase the use of ethanol. There's only one problem with this. A new study by Cornell and Cal-Berkeley confirms what many of us have suspected all along: it takes more energy to PRODUCE ethanol than we ever get out of it. Check it out:
In terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production, their calculations determined that:* Corn requires 29% more fossil energy than the fuel produced;
* Switch grass requires 45% more fossil energy than the fuel produced;
* Wood biomass requires 57% more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
Well, at least big, well-connected, politically powerful agribusiness companies like ADM, which alone makes more than half of the ethanol produced in this country, stand to reap millions if not billions of dollars in profits from this "energy" bill. Thank goodness SOMEBODY gains something from this monstrosity of a bill!
Or how about the national security implications of a bill that does absolutely nothing to reduce our dependence on Saudi oil, nearly 4 years after 15 Saudi citizens slammed airplanes into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania? Believe it or not, despite the fact that we're suppoedly "at war," the "energy" bill "dropped language...requiring the federal government to find ways to cut U.S. oil demand, or to require better fuel mileage for gas-guzzlers." In other words, instead of dealing with our incredible oil consumption, which accounts for nearly 25% of the world's total (despite the fact that we have just over 4% of the world's population), the bill focuses almost entirely on domestic U.S. oil production. This, despite the fact that every energy expert knows the United States is a "mature oil province" with almost no new oil reserves left to tap. This killer combo, of no demand reduction and no way to significantly increase our domestic supplies, means that we are doomed to remain dependent on oil from countries that are NOT our friends (hint: think about where those 9/11 hijackers came from) for many, many years to come. How do we spell "stupid?" B-I-G-O-I-L-L-O-B-B-Y.
Now, how about the bill's impact on the U.S. budget deficit, which is running in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year, with no end in sight? On that score, this bill is a big loser, offering $14.5 billion in tax breaks and incentives, mainly to oil companies which are alredy making record profits.
So, there you have it: a bill that's bad for the environment, U.S. national security, and the budget, all in one pork-laden package. What's even more pitiful is that the oil companies don't need the tax giveaways, given $60 per barrel oil. And it's not like too many real farmers, unless you count ADM and a few other big agribusiness companies in that category, will benefit. Given all that, if there were any justice or sanity in Washington, DC, this bill would be voted down unceremoniously and unaminously. Instead, given the state of politics in "corporate-occupied Washington" these days, expect the bill to pass by large margins.