What better way to start this blog than with a discussion of the U.S. energy bill, which was recently approved by a vote in the House of Representatives 249-193. Three key issues stand out from this bill and have groups all over the United States involved in heated discussions.
Conservation groups are up in arms with the proposed authorization to allow oil drilling along the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. If the bill passes with this in place it would reverse the set of protections initiated in 1991 by George H.W. Bush and lift the moratorium on new ocean drilling which had been extended in 1998 by President Clinton through to 2012.
At a time when oil and gas companies are earning record profits, the U.S. energy bill grants producers of oil, gas, nuclear, coal and electric utilities approximately $8 billion in tax breaks and financial incentives.
The third controversial element of the bill is seen in the proposed protection for the makers of methyl tertiary-butly ether (MTBE) from lawsuits associated with water contamination leaving thousands of communities with MTBE contamination problems without recourse.
Whether or not the U.S. energy bill and its controversial provisions will pass Senate is yet to be seen, but if the uproar it has caused so far is any indication, I'd say significant revisions are forthcoming.
For Additional Information on the U.S. Energy Bill Review:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/2531.html
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1 comment:
Green energy is definitely the best solution in most cases. Technology like solar energy, wind power, fuel cells, zaps electric vehicles, EV hybrids, etc have come so far recently. Green energy even costs way less than oil and gas in many cases.
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