Bush Energy Policy: Overview of Major Proposals and Legislative Action

Publication Date: August 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Energy

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Abstract:

The Bush Administration outlined its proposals for addressing the nation's energy problems in May 2001 with a 170-page report by the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPD) titled National Energy Policy (NEP). In June, the President transmitted to Congress a summation of the report's concepts and strategies that call for legislative action.

Many of the Administration's legislative proposals are included in the Securing America's Future Energy Act of 2001 (H.R. 4), an omnibus energy bill approved by the House on August 1, 2001. Passage of H.R. 4 was widely interpreted as an endorsement of the Bush energy strategy, particularly since a number of key amendments opposed by the White House were defeated.

The Bush Administration NEP report is divided into eight chapters, the first two of which summarize the Administration's view of the energy challenges facing the nation, and the likely consequence of high energy prices. The remaining six chapters are developed around the several stated goals of the Bush Administration strategy - increasing energy supply while sustaining health and the environment; increasing conservation and efficiency as well as the use of renewables and alternative energy supply; expanding the national energy infrastructure; and enhancement of "national energy security and international relationships."

The report of the National Energy Policy Development (NEPD) group included more than 100 recommendations, but only about 20% of these recommendations called for legislation. Consequently, the report leaves Congress with considerable latitude to take a major role in crafting a comprehensive energy policy response.

Perhaps the most controversial element of the Bush energy strategy included in H.R. 4 is the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas leasing. An amendment to eliminate that provision was defeated on the House floor. Other major Administration proposals in H.R. 4 include energy tax incentives, boosting the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), review of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, research on cleaner-burning coal technologies, and offshore oil and gas leasing.

H.R. 4 also includes many provisions not in the Bush policy, and excludes some significant provisions, such as extension of the Price-Anderson Act nuclear accident liability system. It also would significantly modify some of the Administration's recommendations, such as the proposed administrative review of CAFE standards; H.R. 4 would require the standards to be raised sufficiently to save 5 billion gallons of fuel through 2010.