Authors of the Senate climate bill didn't hide their courtship of Big Oil when crafting an industry-friendly proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) claimed giving the industry access to more domestic offshore drilling would help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources of oil, all the while appealing to swing-vote senators. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) boasted that he had sewn up endorsements from three of the country's major oil companies, with their representatives headed to the press conference where the bill would finally be unveiled.
But then came the Gulf Coast spill, with oil behemoth BP PLC culpable for an estimated 200,000 gallons of crude flowing every day into the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, the very perception that major oil companies are tied to the Senate climate proposal is under fire. And the sponsors themselves are being challenged to rewrite their bill and to play down the public role of the industry if the measure has any chance of becoming law.
"The American public has never much liked Big Oil," said Anna Aurilio, director of Environment America's Washington, D.C., office. "The last two weeks have made that perception probably even worse."
Environmentalists hope the BP spill turns into a game changer that will help propel the climate legislation's passage much like the Exxon Valdez oil spill led to the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. But they insist that the authors must first abandon language that allows for an expansion of offshore drilling and revenue-sharing incentives for states -- replacing them with provisions that prevent future oil spills.
"If I was the bill's sponsor, I'd take out offshore drilling provisions and put in new safeguards for oil rigs, and get the oil companies to appear at that press conference," said Dan Weiss, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
In writing their bill's drilling provisions, Kerry, Graham and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) had their sights on about a half-dozen potential votes, including Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). But they also have been wrestling with coastal state Democrats who want nothing to do with any additions to offshore drilling, arguments that have been echoed of late by Senate Democratic leadership following the Gulf Coast spill.
"This terrible event will, undoubtedly, require us to re-examine how we extract our nation's offshore energy resources and will have to be taken into consideration with any legislation that proposes to open new areas to development," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday.
"The offshore drilling issue is being reconsidered by many at this point," Sen. **** Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters yesterday.
Durbin, the Senate majority whip, said safety issues would be paramount if Democrats move ahead. "There's a lot to be learned by members and perhaps new standards when it comes to offshore drilling," he said. "I don't think we're going to eliminate offshore drilling in the future, but any future drilling is going to be held to much higher safety standards."
For now, sponsors of the Senate proposal are holding onto the compromises they have reached with the oil industry, even in light of the Gulf Coast spill. After all, perhaps their biggest deal with Big Oil does not even have to do with drilling. Instead, it places the oil companies into a separate regulatory system for curbing their emissions that is outside the trading plan for power plants and major manufacturers -- a major change from the House-passed bill.
Kerry spokesman Whitney Smith did not respond directly to questions on the role that the oil companies would play in the climate legislation going forward. She said that Kerry is working with the White House, U.S. EPA and other senators to monitor the Gulf Coast spill and also remains focused on "passing a bill that will lead us to a day when most of America's energy is clean, and that will only happen if we put a price on carbon."
Graham, who bolted the negotiations last month over Democratic leadership's decision to place immigration on this year's agenda, said Friday that he saw no reason to change the offshore provisions, even in light of the Gulf Coast spill.
