Reform

If you missed the last bandwagon, stick around; there will be another one coming along soon. Not to be outdone by health care reform friends and foes, energy companies and environmentalists are going on the road with the aim of staging as many rallies as possible in Congressional home districts during the August recess, aiming to influence votes in September. It’s the populist revolution and everyone’s in the game.

If you missed the last bandwagon, stick around; there will be another one coming along soon. Not to be outdone by health care reform friends and foes, energy companies and environmentalists are going on the road with the aim of staging as many rallies as possible in Congressional home districts during the August recess, aiming to influence votes in September. It’s the populist revolution and everyone’s in the game.

Top House Republicans Wednesday unveiled a comprehensive energy reform agenda aimed at increasing all forms of domestic energy. They took shots at the Democratic leadership, claiming that not only has the party done little to alleviate energy prices, they have made them worse.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) will put the oil and natural gas industry on the hot seat Wednesday when his Oversight and Government Reform Committee takes a look at the exemptions in federal environmental and health requirements for onshore energy development. The hearing also is expected to explore the potential impact of oil and natural gas activity on the environment and health of populations living near production areas. Not one producer will testify at the hearing. Instead, the House committee will hear from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy council; Trout Unlimited, a conservation group; the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, an international group that focuses on human health and environmental problems; and a medical toxicologist. In addition, officials from the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and the Environmental Protection Agency are due to testify.

Following three nonconsecutive days of markup, the House Natural Resources Committee last Wednesday passed a controversial energy policy reform bill (HR 2337) that would impose a number of new restrictions on oil and natural gas producers and pipelines, as well as repeal benefits that were offered to the energy industry in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

Following three nonconsecutive days of markup, the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday passed a controversial energy policy reform bill (HR 2337) that would impose a number of new restrictions on oil and natural gas producers and pipelines, as well as repeal benefits that were offered to the energy industry in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct).

The energy industry is going to have to wait until next Wednesday to find out whether the controversial energy policy reform bill (HR 2337) makes it out of the House Natural Resources Committee. Following the second day of markup Thursday, Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) said the “last and most important votes” on the measure would come then.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, last week unveiled an ambitious Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007, which, among other things, would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and require the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to perform at least 550 audits of oil and natural gas leases every fiscal year beginning in 2009.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, unveiled the Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007, which, among other things, would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and require the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to perform at least 550 audits of oil and natural gas leases every fiscal year beginning in 2009.