Post by Barry on Jul 21, 2005 21:13:24 GMT -5
July 20, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A joint Senate-House committee working out the details of a broad US energy bill voted yesterday to expand US daylight saving time by two months to help reduce energy use.
Negotiators from both chambers are racing against the clock to put a final energy package on President Bush's desk by a self-imposed deadline of Aug. 1.
Among the conflicts to be resolved is the cost of energy production tax breaks, which totaled $8 billion in the House bill and $16 billion in the Senate bill, and legal protection for oil refiners that manufactured a fuel additive suspected of being a carcinogen.
The negotiators from the Senate and House yesterday agreed to move the start of daylight saving time in the United States one month earlier to the first Sunday in March. The end of daylight time would be delayed one month to the last Sunday in November.
Daylight saving time occurs each spring when clocks are turned forward by one hour. US clocks go back one hour to standard time in the fall.
Supporters say extending daylight saving time would save about 100,000 barrels of oil a day because offices and stores would be open while it was still light outside and therefore use less energy.
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat from New Mexico, will try to amend the plan before lawmakers finish the bill by shortening the period that daylight saving time would be extended. A Bingaman aide pointed out that farmers are opposed to the extra two months because they will have to start their workday in the dark.
Separately, Senate Democrats plan to offer an amendment to the final energy bill to cut US oil consumption by 1 million barrels a day in a decade.
The Senate approved such a plan in its version of energy legislation, while the House rejected it in its energy bill.
House lawmakers with automakers in their districts are against the proposal, fearing it is a backdoor way to require US minivans, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks to improve their fuel efficiency.
However, some lawmakers believe it makes sense to tighten the mileage requirements of new vehicles because gasoline demand accounts for about 40 percent of total US oil use.
One of the major issues that still has to be worked out is whether to give oil companies that make the water-polluting gasoline additive MTBE protection from certain lawsuits.
The House put the liability waiver in its energy bill, while the Senate opposes the lawsuit protection. Representative Joe Barton, Republican from Texas, who chairs the House-Senate committee working on the energy bill, is trying to reach a compromise deal on the issue.
Barton has proposed creating a trust fund to help pay for the cleanup, estimated to be in the billions of dollars
Credit: Reuters
WASHINGTON -- A joint Senate-House committee working out the details of a broad US energy bill voted yesterday to expand US daylight saving time by two months to help reduce energy use.
Negotiators from both chambers are racing against the clock to put a final energy package on President Bush's desk by a self-imposed deadline of Aug. 1.
Among the conflicts to be resolved is the cost of energy production tax breaks, which totaled $8 billion in the House bill and $16 billion in the Senate bill, and legal protection for oil refiners that manufactured a fuel additive suspected of being a carcinogen.
The negotiators from the Senate and House yesterday agreed to move the start of daylight saving time in the United States one month earlier to the first Sunday in March. The end of daylight time would be delayed one month to the last Sunday in November.
Daylight saving time occurs each spring when clocks are turned forward by one hour. US clocks go back one hour to standard time in the fall.
Supporters say extending daylight saving time would save about 100,000 barrels of oil a day because offices and stores would be open while it was still light outside and therefore use less energy.
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat from New Mexico, will try to amend the plan before lawmakers finish the bill by shortening the period that daylight saving time would be extended. A Bingaman aide pointed out that farmers are opposed to the extra two months because they will have to start their workday in the dark.
Separately, Senate Democrats plan to offer an amendment to the final energy bill to cut US oil consumption by 1 million barrels a day in a decade.
The Senate approved such a plan in its version of energy legislation, while the House rejected it in its energy bill.
House lawmakers with automakers in their districts are against the proposal, fearing it is a backdoor way to require US minivans, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks to improve their fuel efficiency.
However, some lawmakers believe it makes sense to tighten the mileage requirements of new vehicles because gasoline demand accounts for about 40 percent of total US oil use.
One of the major issues that still has to be worked out is whether to give oil companies that make the water-polluting gasoline additive MTBE protection from certain lawsuits.
The House put the liability waiver in its energy bill, while the Senate opposes the lawsuit protection. Representative Joe Barton, Republican from Texas, who chairs the House-Senate committee working on the energy bill, is trying to reach a compromise deal on the issue.
Barton has proposed creating a trust fund to help pay for the cleanup, estimated to be in the billions of dollars
Credit: Reuters