Slimmed

Two of the most significant energy-related legislative actions to occur during 2007 came late in the year — congressional passage of a slimmed-down energy bill (HR 6) and the start of debate in the Senate on climate change legislation.

Two of the most significant energy-related legislative actions to occur during 2007 came late in the year — congressional passage of a slimmed down energy bill (HR 6) and the start of debate in the Senate on climate change legislation.

Speedy passage of a slimmed-down Senate energy bill seemed all but assured Thursday night after Democratic leaders agreed to scrap the controversial $21.8 billion tax package that Senate Republicans and President Bush opposed.

The healthy year-over-year natural gas storage surplus could be slimmed down rapidly this winter — putting upward pressure on natural gas prices — if the 2007 Farmers’ Almanac weather forecast holds up. “Shivery is not dead,” editor Peter Geiger said, alluding to the winter weather forecast in the latest edition of the 188-year-old publication.

The healthy year-over-year natural gas storage surplus could be slimmed down rapidly this winter — putting upward pressure on natural gas prices — if the 2007 Farmers’ Almanac weather forecast holds up. “Shivery is not dead,” editor Peter Geiger said, alluding to the winter weather forecast in the latest edition of the 188-year-old publication.

The House of Representatives, in a somewhat anti-climatic move Thursday, passed a slimmed-down defense appropriations bill that excluded a provision to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and natural gas drilling, as well as $2 billion in emergency funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).