Bush’s Cherished Provisions Face Uphill Fight in Congress

As members of Congress began poring over President Bush’s long-awaited energy plan Thursday, one thing became clear: Some of the elements most dear to the White House face the longest odds on Capitol Hill.

Opening the Alaskan wilderness to new oil exploration and giving the federal government authority to string power lines through private property are central elements of the White House plan. But those and other provisions met immediate opposition from several lawmakers in both parties.

By contrast, members voiced some of their most enthusiastic support for components of the plan that focus on conservation--an approach that until recently the plan’s principal author, Vice President Dick Cheney, was discounting.

Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-La.), chairman of the House Energy Committee, said that “conservation measures will be the first package” of legislation to emerge from his panel. And Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) struck a common chord among Republicans when he pronounced that the Bush plan could represent “the largest conservation proposal maybe we’ve ever seen from the White House.”

The Hill reaction was largely a reflection of the political realities of the energy debate. Conservation measures are easier to embrace because they are less controversial. And starting out the energy debate by stressing curbs in consumption helps Republicans guard against criticism that the Bush plan is tilted toward industry.

The arrival of the White House plan ended months of anxious waiting on Capitol Hill, where members have grown increasingly nervous that voters will hold them accountable for rising gas prices and soaring utility bills.

Finally free to act, congressional leaders outlined a swift legislative schedule Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said he wants legislation on the Senate floor by mid-June. In the House, Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) vowed a comprehensive energy bill would be approved by the August recess.

Of the 105 specific proposals contained in the White House document, only 20 require congressional action. Most provisions can be implemented by executive order or through the actions of regulatory agencies.

Many of the plan’s legislative provisions have bipartisan support, particularly provisions that would dole out billions of dollars in new tax credits to consumers who take steps ranging from weatherizing their homes to driving fuel-efficient cars.

In a recent speech, Cheney said such steps were a “sign of personal virtue,” but hardly a sufficient basis for a comprehensive energy plan. Rather, the White House has been emphasizing the need to boost production.

But prospects for some of the administration’s supply-side measures appear grim, especially the proposal to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to exploration and drilling.

Proponents said the measure’s prospects could brighten if the energy crisis worsens. “There are a lot of people up for reelection,” said Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. “If we are facing $3 gas, those folks are going to think twice about voting against” drilling in Alaska.

But the push for new drilling faces opposition from a number of moderate Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Such GOP defections significantly decrease the measure’s chances in a Senate split 50-50 between the parties.

In fact, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) singled out the push for new drilling as the one measure of the Bush plan that was dead on arrival.

Another proposal that appears in trouble is the push to grant the federal government authority to seize private lands--paying owners fair market value--to allow for the building of power lines.

The administration says securing this so-called eminent domain authority is crucial to solving a shortage of transmission capacity that is choking the flow of cheap energy supplies across the country and helping drive up prices in the West.

The plan does have some powerful backers. “Nobody wants a power line in their backyard,” said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “But we need a national power grid.”

But as with the Alaska drilling proposal, the measure is proving a hard sell within the GOP. A number of prominent Republicans from Western states, including Sen. Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico and Sen. Larry E. Craig of Idaho, said the plan would give the federal government too much power at the expense of individual property rights.