The passing of this bill by the House of Representatives was pure politics, since there was something for everybody in it. I understand we must compromise and should compromise, but at what point does compromise dilute or weaken legislation so much that it becomes ineffective? Certainly, the politicians and industry are winners, and the American people are losers.  I doubt this bill will pass the Senate, and certainly the president would veto it.

Some highlights of energy bill HR 6899: (1) passed by a 236-189 vote; (2) allows states to decide whether “to drill between 50 and 100 miles off their coasts while allowing the federal government to open areas beyond 100 miles”; however, (3) as an incentive to keep states from drilling within their coastal waters, the bill “wouldn’t share any royalties gained from increased offshore oil drilling with coastal states”; (4) the important fishing waters on Georges Bank were excluded from offshore drilling under this bill; (5) at the expense of the environment, oil shale exploration and production would be opened up under this bill; (6) “utilities would be required to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020”; and (7) the bill would revoke “$18 billion in tax breaks” given to “oil companies — rechanneling that money to foster renewable energy efforts”.

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