Wednesday, June 29, 2005

NPR : Senate Energy Bill Headed for Face-Off with House

NPR : Senate Energy Bill Headed for Face-Off with House:

"Key differences between the House and Senate bills include:


* The Senate is budgeting $18 billion for energy-related tax incentives; the House is asking for $8 billion in tax breaks for the energy industry.

* Senate tax breaks focus on promoting renewable energy sources like corn-based ethanol fuel, wind and solar, while also providing incentives for cutting energy consumption through the use of technologies like electric-gasoline hybrid vehicles.

* The House primarily targets its tax incentives on traditional energy industries like electric utilities, as well as promoting fossil fuels like oil, natural gas and coal.

* The Senate bill mandates a doubling of ethanol use in gasoline to 8 billion gallons per year by 2012, a measure intended to cut the amount of oil imported to the United States, as well as help farmers who grow the corn from which ethanol is derived.

* The House bill provides liability lawsuit protection for makers of the gasoline additive MTBE, a chemical intended to help curb air pollution from cars that can be poisonous if it leaches into groundwater.

* The Senate bill does not touch sensitive issues like drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something the president wants."

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