Polluter-Friendly Energy (TomPaine.com)

[Up2Late]

Polluter-Friendly Energy

Frank O'Donnell
April 20, 2005

Frank O'Donnell is president of Clean Air Watch, a 501 (c) 3 non-partisan, non-profit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act

It seems fitting that an organization called The Annapolis Center—identified by The Wall Street Journal as a polluter front group—will give an award next week to Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Barton appears to be working diligently to earn their accolades as he tries to shepherd energy legislation through the House of Representatives this week.

No matter how Barton and his colleagues try to "spin" the product of their committee deliberations, the House energy legislation fails one of the key "objectives" set forth by President Bush in his April 16 radio address: "The energy bill must encourage more production at home in environmentally sensitive ways ."

Indeed, if the legislation became law in its current form, it would prolong smog problems in much of the nation, shift the burden of cleaning up poisoned water supplies from oil companies to cash-strapped public agencies, and even threaten environmental damage from some forms of renewable energy. These are on top of the well-publicized provisions that would permit big oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for a few months worth of oil that wouldn't reach consumers for a decade.

Itemizing the anti-environmental provisions of the House energy bill is a mind-numbing exercise: new loopholes that could reduce gas mileage requirements; weaker protections for coastal communities; tax breaks to promote more coal burning. And that's just the beginning. But here are several glaring examples that illustrate the potential for environmental harm.

(more at link above)