Weekly Political Roundup — Mark Your Calendars, Start Your Engines
Posted May 8, 2009 at 10:59 am 
Filed in: Electrification, Energy Security, Environment, Gas Prices, Legislation, Oil Prices When it comes to energy policy, the upcoming Memorial Day holiday is significant in a couple ways.
First, House Democratic leaders are busy trying to advance a climate change proposal before the Memorial Day recess. Perhaps you’re familiar with the old crack about there being no greater motivator for legislators to get their work done than the smell of jet fumes from the airport to return home.
http://www.eenews.net/EEDaily/2009/05/08/1/
“Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said Waxman faces long odds to move the legislation through committee considering strident GOP opposition and about half of the 36 Democrats on the committee who he counts as neutral to the proposal.
“’That’s pretty hard to pull all that together in a week or so,’ Barton said. ‘There’s growing pressure in the Democratic caucus to de-emphasize climate change and emphasize health care, where health care is a doable deal.’
“Barton predicted the climate and energy measure will end up on the shelf for a while. ‘I think the pressure is going to build on Chairman Waxman not to give up on climate change, but to set it aside and let it simmer awhile and go to health care,’ he said. ‘I honestly don’t see him getting a bill that he’d want to get out of committee at the end of May.’
It’s not terribly surprising that not all key House legislators are motivated in favor of that effort. But the noteworthy aspect is that not all the naysayers are Republicans.
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/54_126/news/34645-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
“[Rep. Neil] Abercrombie [D-HI] ripped the cap-and-trade talks as ‘stalled’ and said that’s why Obama had to step in. He called cap-and-trade ‘virtually unexplainable, and when it does get explained, nobody wants to do it. Can you explain it? Can you explain it to your mom?’
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/pm.php
“Abercrombie called cap-and-trade ‘virtually unexplainable, and when it does get explained nobody wants to do it.’ He added: ‘When you’re explaining you’re losing.’”
This week, Abercrombie joined forces with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and a bipartisan group of members who are interested in ensuring that Congress keeps its eye on the ball by strengthening our nation’s energy security. Despite vast ideological and regional differences, these legislators remember last summer’s unprecedented run-up in oil and gas prices, as well as America’s longstanding and dangerous oil dependence. So this week, they introduced a comprehensive bill that seeks to increase the domestic supply of oil and natural gas in the near-term, as well as seeks to electrify the transportation fleet in the future. The timely introduction of this bill garnered significant attention and political observers are speculating on its prospects vis-à-vis the struggling climate change efforts.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com
“Another possible setback for the Democrats is a new bipartisan energy proposal introduced yesterday by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), which could siphon away support for the cap-and-trade bill written by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.).”
The second way that Memorial Day is a key energy milestone is that it marks the start of summer driving season. Oil prices have already grown by 70-plus percent since February and there is a sense that improved economic signals may give oil demand a head of steam heading into the upcoming peak driving season.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-rises-above-58-on-rb-15180139.html/print
“Oil stood at just below $58 a barrel on Friday, off session highs, lifted partly by more positive data on the health of some major economies that could ultimately translate into increased demand for oil.
“U.S. crude rose $1.14 to $57.85 a barrel by 1242 GMT (8:42 a.m. EDT). It touched a six-month high of $58.57 on Thursday. Brent crude was up $1.17 at $57.64.
“Oil has gained more than 70 percent from a low of $33.55 in February, rallying with equity markets on hopes of economic recovery and also in response to oil supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
“Macro-economic data on major economies has begun to look less gloomy.”
Could this be déjà vu all over again? The fumes of rising fuel prices might have the benefit of motivating Congress to upgrade energy policy from the back seat of coach to first class.
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