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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Charlie Dent Warns Congress to Adopt Bipartisan Approach to Energy Crisis


A forceful Charlie Dent told Congress yesterday that it's time to adopt a bipartisan approach to our energy crisis.

8 comments:

Blah Society said...

He's right.

Anonymous said...

ENERGY (7)
HR 6 (House Amendment #376, Roll Call #129): MTBE Liability exemption – April 21, 2005.
Section 1503 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave corporations that manufacture MTBE, a lead substitute in gasoline, liability immunity. The fuel additive is a known carcinogen to animals and has contaminated nearly 1900 water systems in 29 states because of surface spills, storm water run-off, chemical precipitation and leaking underground fuel tanks. Opponents of Section 1503 drafted an amendment to the Energy Policy Act that removed the MTBE liability waiver. A yes vote supported the amendment, which failed 213-219.
Gerlach (R-6th) No
Fitzpatrick (R-8th) Yes
Sherwood (R-10th) No
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 5386 (Roll Call #167): Fiscal 2007 Interior-Environment Appropriations/Royalty relief – May 18, 2006.
The House banned new leases for Outer Continental drilling for any company exempted from paying royalties to the Treasury under existing leases. The bill passed 252-165 to end OCS royalty relief.
Gerlach (R-6th) Yes
Fitzpatrick (R-8th) Yes
Sherwood (R-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 3221 (Roll Call # 827): New Direction for Energy Independence amendment – August 4, 2007.
The House amended HR 3221 to require electric utilities to produce at least 15 percent of their energy by 2020 from renewable sources such as the wind, sun, tides, crops and geo-thermal forces. After resolving differences with the Senate’s version, the bill was sent to the president who signed it in July. A yes vote supported the amendment which passed 220-190.
Gerlach (R-6th) Yes
Murphy (D-8th) Yes
Carney (D-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 2776: Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 – August 4, 2007.

Anonymous said...

HR 2776: Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007 – August 4, 2007.
The House on August 4, 2007 passed a bill increasing taxes on oil and gas companies by up to $16 billion over several years and using the proceeds to finance renewable-energy measures in HR 3221. A yes vote supported the bill, which passed the House 221-189.
Gerlach (R-6th) No
Murphy (D-8th) Yes
Carney (D-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 6: Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act – December 6, 2007.
After nearly a year of partisan finger pointing, the House advanced, 235-181, an energy bill to the Senate that would raise vehicle mileage requirements by 40 percent by 2020, the first mileage increase in 32 years. Among other provisions, it required utilities to produce between 11 and 15 percent of their energy by 2020 from renewable sources such as the wind, sun and crops. To pay for its efficiency programs, the bill added $21 billion in new taxes, including a $13.5 billion rollback of breaks granted in recent years to the oil and gas industry. The Senate eventually cleared the bill for Bush’s signature on December 19, 2007.
Gerlach (R-6th) Yes
Murphy (D-8th) Yes
Carney (D-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 5351 (Roll Call #84): Energy Tax changes – February 27, 2008.
The House voted 236-182 to send the Senate a bill to rescind tax breaks that ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips received in 2004 as an incentive to not export U.S. jobs. This would raise taxes by $13.6 billion over ten years and use the revenue to fund tax breaks that would promote the development of renewable fuels and energy efficiencies. A yes vote supported the measure.
Gerlach (R-6th) No
Murphy (D-8th) Yes
Carney (D-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

HR 6251 (Roll Call #469): Use it or Lose it – June 26, 2008.
The House passed legislation mandating oil companies to either drill on federal land they have leased or relinquish the right to do so. The “use it or lose it” bill was directed at dormant leases covering 68 million acres in the West and Alaska. The bill would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from granting any new federal leases to companies not drilling on acreage already leased. Unlike coal operators, oil companies are currently not required to diligently develop their leases. It has been estimated that if these firms would drill on land already loaned to them, it would cut imported oil by one-third and provide six times the supply of the Artic National Wildness Reserve. Although the provision was passed, 223-195, it failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote required for passage under an expedited procedure that bypassed regular House rules.
Gerlach (R-6th) No
Murphy (D-8th) Yes
Carney (D-10th) Yes
Kanjorski (D-11th) Yes
Schwartz (D-13th) Yes
Dent (R-15th) No
Holden (D-17th) Yes

Data: AFL-CIO, Congressional Quarterly, Morning Call, Washington Post.com, thomas.loc.gov

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 11:45, 11:48, aka Sam Bennett supporter,

Your comments here are welcome. I suppose you're trying to demonstrate, on the basis of Charlie Dent's voting record, that he's in Big Oil's pocket.

That's fine by me, but your weay of making that point is ineffective. If you google html link, you'll learn how to create a link to the vote you want to mention. You can do that and make a brief argument to support your point.

What you are doing here will just be ignored by most readers.

Blah Society said...

Especially since you keep reposting the same type of content, over and over again, which I'm guessing is just a copy-and-paste anyway. Your no longer trying to make a point, you're just spamming.

Anonymous said...

HR 3221 (Roll Call # 827): New Direction for Energy Independence amendment – August 4, 2007.
The House amended HR 3221 to require electric utilities to produce at least 15 percent of their energy by 2020 from renewable sources such as the wind, sun, tides, crops and geo-thermal forces. After resolving differences with the Senate’s version, the bill was sent to the president who signed it in July. A yes vote supported the amendment which passed 220-190.

Just what does Sam Bennett think PPL's rates would be if it was required to produce 15 percent of its energy through "the wind, sun, tides, crops and geo-thermal forces."

Does this person posting consider the following:

Wind power is a limited option in PA because of our meteorology and geography.

Ditto solar power.

Tides? Tides? Are you serious? Or just seriously brain dead? How much energy is PPL going to produce from the tides in land-locked Pennsylvania, smart guy?

Crops? People who still support the ethanol scam really need help, like Bennett supporters.

Geo-thermal forces. I guess we could tap into all the geyers and active volcanos we have here in PA. Geo-thermal power works great in Iceland -- not so much in Pennsylvania.

What this poster neglected to mention is that utilities that couldn't come up with a mix that equalled 15 percent were going to suffer severe tax penalties.

So, maybe Dent deserves recognition and applause for voting against a very dumb bill.

Anonymous said...

Oh, DRILL NOW!

Anonymous said...

This is a bad bill, though. Hence the celebration of the term "bipartisan" bill.

Drilling and exploration prohibitions expire on Oct 1st. If congress does nothing, we will be moving in the right direction.

We have been developing alternative energy sources for 30 years now. They are not economical.