Non-Tax Part of Energy Bill Completed

[Robbien]

WASHINGTON (AP) - House and Senate negotiators completed the nontax part of a sweeping energy bill early Tuesday as lawmakers worked past midnight in hopes of getting a bill to President Bush before departing for the August recess.

The legislation calls for subsidies for clean energy technology, deep water oil drilling and construction of new nuclear power plants, as well as new efficiency requirements for commercial appliances.

. . .

The conferees approved a White House proposal to provide "risk insurance" against regulatory delays for companies that seek to build the next generation of nuclear power plants. The measure, highlighted by President Bush in an energy speech last April, would apply for the first six reactors built.

If work is finished Tuesday, the House and Senate could take up the final energy legislation later in the week, after four years of failing to agree on a new national energy agenda.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20050726&ID=4986451


They are pushing this so fast and we are hearing nothing from the DNC on how they will vote.

Among the key components of the House& Senate bills is the repeal of Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA). With PUHCA gone, there would be no restrictions on utility holding companies who would be free to raid assets of utilities to fund investments in unrelated businesses. Can anyone say Enron? Wonder if this provision is in the final bill.

[Mr. Peanut]

1. Nixon, Reagan, Now Bush Meddling With Our Clocks

We don’t need a government nanny to regulate wake-up times....

We must stop Congress from extending Daylight Saving Time (DST) as part of the Energy Bill. It is an invasion of privacy in the name of supporting Big Business by giving shoppers extra daylight to spend money on their way home from work. "Saving" is a misnomer, since it has little to do with saving anything, much less time. Even Republicans can't add another hour to a 24-hour day.

It's just another instance of this administration interfering in our personal lives so that it appears they are doing "something" about the energy crisis. I have to ask, how many of our lawmakers own Hummers and other gas-guzzlers?

We need to start a nation-wide protest against having DST at all, much less extending it. See Michael Downing's book, Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.