Energy Bill

Once again, it's time to ACT TO STOP THE ENERGY BILL!

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (TN) and Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (NM) are maneuvering to try to pass the energy bill by attaching it to other "must-pass" legislation.

NIRS has learned that this effort is likely to begin TODAY, Tuesday, February 10 (although a final vote will not occur today), and that the energy bill may be broken up and pared down, and attached to transportation legislation. There may also be efforts to attach it to another bill. Reportedly, Domenici has agreed to take a controversial provision regarding the fuel additive MBTE out of the bill (which the House has indicated it will not accept and will add back later). In addition, the ethanol portion of the energy bill may be stripped and offered separately. Some tax incentives may be removed from the bill to try to avoid a "point of order" from budget-conscious senators, although this has not been detailed.

Although nothing is definite, a vote COULD take place this week!

WE MUST STOP THIS UNDERHANDED MANEUVER. Send a FREE FAX to your senators via Public Citizen's Web site, urging them to oppose the energy bill in any form:
http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=253&source=5

CALL your senators; Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or toll free at 1-800-839-5276. Note: all Senators except Frist have now returned to their office buildings following the Ricin scare. You can (and should!) also contact them through their state offices. Go to this Web site to look up their contact information: http://congress.org/congressorg/home/

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is going against the wishes of the majority in his party and is actively working for passage of the energy bill because of its ethanol provision. As a national party leader, Daschle should do better. We urge you to protest his position by calling his office at 202-224-2321. His state offices are 605-225-8823 (Aberdeen); 605-348-7551 (Rapid City), and 605-334-9596 (Sioux Falls). His toll-free re-election campaign phone number is 1-866-213-5200.

NIRS has prepared a new fact sheet on the budget-busting aspects of the nuclear tax incentives in the bill (HR 6). You can download this fact sheet at http://www.nirs.org or we would be happy to e-mail you a formatted copy (Word document). Pointing out that the bill's sponsors have greatly underestimated the costs of these incentives is a good new argument to use against the bill.

Even if you've called and faxed your Senators before, please do so again! They need to know you still care about this issue. And even if you think you know how your Senators will vote, assume nothing! When the maneuvering gets this intense, anything can happen.

Our message is simple: Congress should permanently jettison this entire bill and start over again to craft an energy policy that truly addresses the needs of consumers and the quality of the environment by promoting safe, clean and affordable energy. We must oppose any and all methods, means, or maneuvers to pass the energy bill or any pared-down version of it. Instead, please urge your senators to co-sponsor the "Electric Reliability Act of 2004" (S. 2014), a responsible and forward-looking bill offered by Sens. Cantwell (D-Wash.), Clinton (D-N.Y.), Jeffords (D-Vt.), and Feingold (D-Wis.).

THANKS to our friends at Public Citizen for their help (and for some of the wording in this Alert!).

Michael Mariotte
Cindy Folkers
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
202-328-0002
nirsnet@nirs.org