Home > Congress gives constituents a Bi-Partisan porking...
It is now official; both Democratic and Republican politicians know that you, the voter, will bend over and spread for them, and they have decided to drive it home. In one of the largest successful bipartisan efforts since the original 9/11 legislation, Congress has created an energy bill that is transparent in its fellation of oil companies, and sodomization of the people it should serve. Sen. John McCain, possibly one of the last honorable politicians alive, rightly dubbed this the "No Lobbyist left behind Act".
In a nutshell, this bill:
Increases, instead of decreasing, our dependence on oil (a net growth of 130,000 barrels per day by 2014).
Destroys Years of environmental protections.
Frees the energy companies of liability for pollution of our air and drinking water, and industrial accidents (for Nuclear facilities).
Gives massive tracts of land to the energy companies for little or no return, and without even a promise of increased energy.
Tramples the states’ rights in its rush to Federalize all decisions made regarding the location and type of energy production facilities across the nation.
Hands giant bags of money to the energy companies, already flush from a long string of record profit quarters (Exxon made 7.6 Billion in pure profit in Q2 this year alone).
The following is a detailed analysis of the sections of the bill in question.
While much of the bill is fiscally irresponsible to the extreme, the following provisions stand out in their amazing disregard for the will and the good of the people.
The bill:
1. Threatens drinking water by amending the Safe Drinking Water Act to allow the unregulated underground injection of chemicals during oil and gas development and during geothermal energy development. [Section 322]
2. Grants the oil and gas industries an exemption for their construction activities from compliance with Clean Water Act provisions that require all types of construction activities to reduce polluted runoff from these sites. [Section 323]
3. Includes provisions to allow underwater oil and gas exploration, (research that is accomplished by sinking explosives into the ocean floor and detonating them), near protected marine wildlife beds. As an avid fisherman, I have already seen how much Florida’s marine life has been depleted, through construction, pollution, and aggressive commercial harvesting. This has the potential to do serious damage to an already damaged eco-system; an eco-system, I might add, that the state is very reliant on for its primary industry (tourism). [Sec. 357]
4. Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act. This act, passed back in the days of the Oil Barons (Rockefeller, et al.), was the backbone of the anti-trust legislation which ended the Oil Barons’ reigns. The repeal of this act is startling, and signals a return to the days of Energy Monopoly.[Section 1263]
5. Provides “backdoor immunity” to the producers and distributors, of the likely carcinogenic gasoline additive MTBE, by removing MTBE claims from state court to federal court when the claims are based on state tort law, nuisance law, or consumer law. This unfairly deprives injured parties and their representatives (water utilities, states AGs, etc) of their right to have their claims heard in their state forum and could derail many legal claims entirely, effectively shielding those companies responsible for MTBE contamination from their full financial liability for the damages they have caused. Anytime you act to decrease the powers of the citizens, you are taking a step towards Fascist oppression, plain and simple. [Sec. 1504]
6. Seeks to significantly increase the ability to categorically exclude a broad range of oil and gas exploration and drilling activities from public involvement and impact analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act [Sec 389].
7. Pre-empts state authority in the siting and construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, which are potentially dangerous facilities that will contain large amount of gas. This effectively takes it out of the hands of the citizens as to whether or not they want these types of facilities in their neighborhood, and removes the State’s ability to determine where the lease environmental impact will be. Again, another step towards centering powers at the Federal level, at the expense of the citizen. [Section 311]
8. Increases air pollution and global warming with more than $6 billion in new incentives to burn coal for electricity. [Coal and R&D titles]
9. Provides incentives to cut down trees, including those in sensitive areas such as roadless areas, to use in ethanol and motor fuels production. Ironically enough, Ethanol production uses more energy than the resulting ethanol creates, resulting in a diminishing return. [Section 1513]
10. Increases America’s oil dependence by 130,000 barrels of oil per day in 2014 through extending the ’dual-fuel’ loophole. With oil currently at over $60 a barrel, the legislation which was supposed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil actually increases it. [Title VII, Sec. 772]
11. Pre-empts states’ rights by muting their voice about federal projects that affect their coasts. [Section 381]
12. Pre-empts states’ rights by providing federal siting authority for transmission lines [Section 1221].
13. Extends the Price Anderson Act for 20 Years which limits the nuclear industry’s liability in case of an accident [Nuclear Title]
14. Allows oil industry to forgo royalty payments to the federal Treasury for oil drilled areas off Alaska’s coastline, essentially giving them our natural resources for free, while taxpayers pay more than 2 dollars a gallon at the pump. [Section 346]
15. Provides $250,000 to develop technologies to use radioactivity to refine oil [Hall Amendment added in conference]
16. Authorizes up to $1.5 billion in new subsidies to the oil industry for ultra-deep oil drilling and exploration, [Hall amendment added in conference]
17. Threatens wildlife and subsistence values of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska by literally giving away oil leases on Alaska’s North Slope, while at the same time handing oil companies a free pass to sit on the leases for decades without contributing anything to America’s energy needs. [Section 347]
18. Mandates the rapid development of a commercial oil shale/tar sands leasing program. Directs the Department of Interior to identify and prioritize for land exchange federal lands for transfer to corporations for oil shale development. [Sec. 369]
President Bush had the unmitigated gall to make the following statement when signing the bill:
"This bill will strengthen our economy and it will improve our environment, and it’s going to make this country more secure. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is going to help every American who drives to work, every family that pays a power bill, and every small business owner hoping to expand.".
Rep. Joe Barton (R., TX, of course) took the bullshit meter one step higher when he said:
"This bill is based on the premise that we believe in private free market capitalism to develop the resources of this land in a cost efficient fashion."
I’m assuming in his dictionary, Private Free Market Capitalism means Government and taxpayers fund the market, and Private Free Market Companies profit from it.
No need for Democrats to be smug, however...this is a piggier version of the very same poorly conceived energy bill drafted by House Democrats back in 2002. Closer examination of the Pork Barrel projects included show that when it came to grabbing handfulls of cash out of taxpayer pockets, this truly was a Bi-Partisan effort.
While a small handful of Democrats, a smaller handful of Republicans, and the lone Independant Senator voted nay, the mass majority of our Senators were more than happy to show you exactly how little they think of you. Whether you prefer the elephant or the donkey, they both think you are a jackass.
Enough is enough. Turn in your party registration now. Think independant, be independant, vote independant.
Or, continue to be a dogmatic mindless slave.
The following is a list of the Senators, and how they voted:
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Yea
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Corzine (D-NJ), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Nay