Monday, May 22, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.
This past week Democrats introduced an energy plan they say will slash domestic oil use from 20 million to 12 million barrels a day by 2020. The Clean EDGE (Energy Development for a Growing Economy) Act is a good bill and it is a shame that it doesn't stand much of a chance in the Republican-controlled Congress.
The bill, as Democrats note, offers an alternative to the oil-drilling focus of past and present GOP bills. The Democratic plan would accelerate and extend incentives for both the manufacture and purchase of new fuel-efficient vehicles, require more federal vehicles to use alternative fuels, require oil companies that own gas stations to install alternative-fuel pumps, and create innovative "alternative refueling corridors" in some parts of the country.
The legislation also requires that 25 percent of new cars sold in this country by 2010 be capable of using alternative fuels. The bill also offers some new flexibilities in the food stamp, public housing and other federal programs that would help the poor defray rising fuel costs. And, very importantly, the legislation would scrap subsidies for profit-rich oil companies and demand they pay fair royalty rates for drilling on public lands.
The bill contrasts with proposals unveiled last month by Republican leaders that would have opened Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling and offered oil companies incentives to construct refineries. Another GOP proposal to give Americans $100 for fuel quickly became the butt of talk show jokes.
But, of course, Republicans control Congress, which means they control the committees and the legislative calendars. So in this politically charged election year, the Democratic plan, which is far more in tune with what average Americans expect of elected officials, likely won't get much of an airing. And its proposals stand virtually no chance of passing. That's too bad.
Americans of every political persuasion are paying high gas prices. It would be nice if the policies designed to help them were written by all their representatives in Congress, not just the members of one party.
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