The House is set to consider a bill on the floor this week to lift a 40-year-old ban on exporting crude oil from the United States.
The bill is being supported by the House leadership as integral to the Republican energy agenda this Congress, and many high-level lawmakers have vowed to see it passed before the end of the year. A similar bill in the Senate has been voted out of committee and sent to the floor for consideration, but the timing of the vote in the upper chamber is not certain.
The House, on the other hand, has set a self-imposed deadline of Oct. 1 to pass the measure, according to Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who announced the vote earlier this month after it was passed out of the Energy & Commerce Committee.
The bill has been placed on the tentative floor agenda for next week, and faces an almost certain victory along strict party lines. Most Democrats oppose the measure, saying it will drive up gasoline prices and harm consumers.
A recent study by the government’s Energy Information Administration is being used to refute claims that lifting the export restrictions would hurt the economy. The study says gasoline prices would fall with increased exports of crude oil.
The GOP says the measure would drive new investment in the oil and gas sector by opening up U.S. crude oil to the global market, given that the nation has become the world’s leading oil and gas producer.
The bill, H.R. 702, was introduced by energy chairman emeritus Joe Barton, R-Texas, who has championed the push to lift the ban in the House along with current committee chairman Fred Upton of Michigan. The House Rules Committee will take up the legislation on Monday to set guidelines for debate and amendments when it gets to the floor.
As of Friday, there was just one amendment filed by California Democrat Jared Huffman. His amendment directs the Energy Department to produce a study of the effects of lifting the ban on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Many scientists blame the use of fossil fuels for increasing the emissions that are causing the Earth’s climate to warm, resulting in more droughts and flooding.
The oil export bill isn’t the only energy-related issue moving in Congress this week.
The House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a Sept. 30 oversight hearing that will cover a host of controversies between states and the federal government on energy development. The hearing is titled, “Oversight Hearing on Respecting State Authority in Regards to Resource Management and Energy Development.” The agenda has not been issued yet.
The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee also will be diving into controversy, with a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s embattled Waters of the United States rule. The rule has been heavily contested by the states in numerous federal courts. A House lawmaker is even trying to have EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy impeached for lying about the scientific basis for the regulation.
The rule extends federal jurisdiction over ditches and small bodies of water on private lands by designating them as waterways. Ranchers and farmers say it is a prime example of gross overreach by the federal government and a power grab, which will make them targets of federal enforcement activities.
EPA Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe is also set to testify on EPA’s “air agenda” on Sept. 29. The hearing is expected to drill down on the agency’s emission rules for powers plants, new smog rules that are set to be finalized Oct. 1, and others. The smog rules for controlling ozone emissions have been dubbed the most expensive regulations in history. Both the power plant and ozone rules are in the crosshairs of Republicans.
The committee is also holding a hearing on the Endangered Species Act, which is also a big target of the GOP.
