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Stevens says struggle is now for ANS gas line Energy bill battle shifts from ANWR vs. ethanol to gas line vs. ethanol and fuel conservation — however, ANWR isn’t dead, senator says Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
Sen. Ted Stevens said the fight to include incentives for a North Slope gas line in a U.S. House-Senate energy bill might result in a stand off because Senate Democrats are holding out for ethanol use provisions and stricter corporate average fuel economy standards in return for support on the gas line.
Western states won’t accept stricter CAFÉ standards because they are “users of family vehicles” such as sport utility vehicles and minivans, Stevens said at an Oct. 21 press conference in Anchorage.
“I’m not sure we’ll get an energy bill this session,” Stevens said, adding that the fight for the gas line has become critical because when this Congress ends, “all bills die and we start all over again.”
Stevens said it could take another two years of haggling to pass gas line incentives if they are not included in an energy bill during a lame duck session this fall.
“I’ve spent more of my time lately on the gas line, more than defense,” he said.
Not ANWR vs. ethanol anymore Political winds have shifted considerably since summer, when support of gas line incentives contained in the Senate version of the energy bill seemed assured, and a provision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Range to drilling was the likely bargaining chip to play against ethanol use incentives.
“I hope that no one in this room is under the illusion that all of the conservation and environmental efforts in the world are going to secure our nation’s energy’s future,” Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., told conferees at the energy bill conference committee meeting June 27 in Washington, D.C. “That is why the House bill, under the leadership of Chairman Jim Hansen and others, contains new production provisions, most notably in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
Tauzin, chairman of the House-Senate conference committee on H.R. 4, is on record as saying there will not be an ethanol provision in the bill unless ANWR is there also, Arctic Power’s Washington, D.C., coordinator Roger Herrera said Sept. 6 at an Anchorage luncheon sponsored by Arctic Power, the Resource Development Council and the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.
“You want ethanol? I want ANWR,” Rep. Don Young said at the June 27 conference committee meeting.
Ethanol tax credits would come out of money for the Highway Trust Fund. Young oversees spending of the highway money as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Taking the money out of the Highway Trust Fund is like “cutting an artery, drinking the blood and declaring that we’re making progress,” Young said, adding that users of fossil fuels pay the cost of roads and it is unfair for users of ethanol fuel to not pay similar fuel taxes, given that ethanol-burning vehicles also create wear and tear on the roadways.
ANWR not dead issue While drilling in ANWR likely won’t be in an energy bill this fall — if a bill passes at all, the issue is not dead, Stevens told PNA. He did not elaborate on what the next strategy to open ANWR would be.
A majority of senators support opening ANWR, Stevens said, but the threat of filibuster has required 60 votes to allow drilling.
“It’s hard to get 60 senators to agree on anything,” Stevens said.
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