Senate Takes Up Bill that Allows Drilling in Alaska and Bans MtBE
WASHINGTON, March 06–Debate on President Bush’s energy policy bill began this week, and Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) is getting ready to fulfill his pledge to break with his party by opposing oil drilling in Alaska and to “fight like hell” to enact a ban on the polluting gas additive MtBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether).
“Developing a strong energy policy is one of my top priorities,” Smith said in a statement. “New Hampshire, along with much of New England, has suffered through its worst energy crisis in a decade. Dependence on foreign oil has risen, oil consumption has increased and something must be done.”
The 440-page energy bill, the most comprehensive to emerge in years, authorizes funds for the Energy Department through fiscal year 2006. The House approved it last August, though many key provisions, including the MtBE ban, have been added by the Senate Energy And Natural Resources Committee.
Smith said he played a major part in writing language in the energy bill that would ban MtBE, a petrochemical that is mixed with gasoline to make it burn more cleanly and reduce smog. MtBE has polluted waterways in New Hampshire and around the nation and Smith’s language includes $400 million for cleanup and remediation of contaminated sites.
“MtBE from New Hampshire’s perspective is extremely, extremely significant,” said Lisa Harrison, Smith’s communications director. “Thousands of wells, particularly in the southern part of the state, may be contaminated by MtBE. Senator Smith has worked with [Senate Majority Leader Thomas A.] Daschle [D-SD] to secure a commitment to debate MtBE,” she said.
Resistance to the MtBE ban is likely come from senators in states that produce ethanol, a corn-based petrochemical similar to MtBE that is banned in New Hampshire. “They want their ethanol to be mandated as a replacement, which isn’t good for us,” Harrison said.
While his colleagues kicked off debate on the wide-ranging bill on the Senate floor today, Smith stood on the Senate’s steps and told visiting students from the Sierra Students Coalition that the fight against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge “looks very positive right now.”
Smith remains resolved to break with the Republican leadership by opposing drilling in 1.5 million acres of the Arctic reserve in Alaska. Because the Senate committee did not include a provision for drilling in the bill, pro-drilling Senators – including Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) – are likely to offer an amendment to allow it.
Smith, who plans to support a filibuster led by the Democrats to prevent adoption of the drilling provision, reported to the visiting students that pro-drilling senators don’t have the votes to block the filibuster.
Smith, who votes with his party on more than 95 percent of issues, has made the fight against drilling a personal priority. A legislative aide said he changed his position after receiving 7,000 letters from constituents opposed to drilling.
Gregg, in a statement, defended his support for drilling, saying it will “minimally impact” the Alaska coastal plain.
Gregg cited the increase in the number of Central Arctic caribou in the Prudhoe Bay region since oil was discovered there in 1969, and said that advance technology would “drastically reduce the intrusion of necessary infrastructure on the environment when drilling.”
“The Untied States could replace imports of all Iraqi oil over the lifetime of the designated area of ANWR,” Gregg said.
In the House, Rep. Charles Bass voted (R-NH) against drilling, while Rep. John E. Sununu (R-NH) voted for it.
Adam Kolton, the Arctic campaign director at the Alaska Wilderness League, based in Washington, DC, said that oil from Alaska would not affect the Granite State. “No oil from Alaska is used in New Hampshire – not to heat peoples’ homes, not for cars, not for electricity.”
According to a poll conducted by ICR of Media, Pa., more than half of Americans oppose drilling in the Arctic reserve.
The energy bill also calls for incentives for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar, money for clean-coal technologies and new efficiency standards for consumer products such as air conditioners. It also would ease restrictions on utility conglomerates.
A recent Pew Research Center study showed growing public support for conservation and regulation as opposed to new exploration and more power plants.
Smith said he also worked on other parts of the energy bill including tax credits, energy diversification, alternative fuels, hybrid vehicles and a provision for tax credits for people who build and construct energy-efficient buildings.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
