PHILIP BRASHER • pbrasher@dmreg.com
With a sweeping climate bill stalled in the Senate, attention could turn to a smaller measure that would boost usage of renewable electricity, a potential boost to Iowa’s wind industry.
The bill, passed by a Senate committee in June, would require that utilities increase their use of renewable power by up to 15 percent by 2021 and make it easier to build the interstate transmission lines needed for wind projects. The bill also includes provisions to increase the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances.
President Barack Obama has been pushing for more far-reaching legislation that would impose caps on greenhouse gas emissions by utilities, refiners and other industries. However, a bill similar to one that passed the House has gone nowhere in the Senate amid opposition from moderate Democrats.
“I’m not sure Democrats want to discuss that stuff during an election year,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia. But he said he does expect the Senate to consider a narrower bill that would include the renewable electricity mandate, which he supports.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., insists that he’s going forward with the broader bill, which would include the renewable power provisions. But several others who have resisted the climate bill, including Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., have been pushing for the energy bill as an alternative.
The smaller bill, with the renewable power provisions, had bipartisan support in committee so it should be far easier to pass than the climate legislation, said Frank Maisano, an energy industry lobbyist. Democrats already have been struggling to pass health care reform.
“The fact that they’re going to struggle to find the votes for health care gives you even harder pause that they’re going to try again” with the climate legislation, Maisano said.
The smaller bill would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission legal authority to settle disputes among states that have stalled development of long-distance transmission lines. The panel needs increased authority to get lines built, said John Norris, an Iowan who is the commission’s newest member.
Environmentalists have mixed views about that bill. Their top priority is to put limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and the renewable power mandate isn’t as tough as some groups want. The bill also would open the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas exploration.
But the legislation doesn’t go far enough to reduce carbon emissions and create a long-term market for alternative energy, including Iowa’s wind power, said Nathaniel Baer, an energy specialist with the Iowa Environmental Council.
“We need a comprehensive piece of legislation that creates that long-term certainty that this is where the U.S. is headed for decades,” he said.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., is taking a similar stance. He “believes that just doing an energy bill doesn’t fully deliver a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” spokesman Grant Gustafson said.
The climate legislation would force utilities and other companies subject to the carbon caps to either reduce their emissions or buy credits on the market. Farmers could benefit from the legislation by undertaking carbon-saving measures, such as planting trees or reducing tillage, that would qualify for credits they could sell to companies that need them.
However, many farm groups are fighting the legislation because of the potential impact on land use and energy costs. An Agriculture Department study released in December gave opponents of the legislation fresh ammunition because of its estimate that as many as 59 million acres of cropland could be converted to forests as result of the legislation.
The prospect for such a shift in land “scares me. I think it should scare anyone involved in farming,” said Craig Hill, vice president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.
The legislation also has run into opposition from some utilities, including MidAmerican Energy, who claim it would drive up electricity prices. MidAmerican has not endorsed the smaller bill but supports that approach, a spokesman said.
The Environmental Protection Agency is threatening to impose limits of its own on greenhouse gas emissions, a move intended to prod Congress to pass a climate bill. The top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, is planning to force the Senate to vote on stripping the agency of its authority over carbon emissions, at least temporarily.
Energy analyst Kevin Book said he expected such a measure to fail because Democrats will be reluctant to defy their party’s leadership this early in the year.
