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Note: The following press release was referenced from NACS: National Association of Convenience Stores
As we hinted last week, late on Feb. 28, Rep. Barton (R-TX) released the House Republican draft of Energy Policy legislation. The bill is an attempt to pick up where Congress left off last fall. Where the House and Senate conferees had reached agreement, Barton's bill reflects that agreement.
Where no agreement had been reached, the bill largely follows last year's bill as adopted by the House. One of the most contentious issues from last year was left out of the draft bill - opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil exploration. If it stays out of the bill, one of the major roadblocks to action will have been removed.
The draft bill represents that "picking up where we left off" approach in another respect. Last year, House conferees agreed in principle, but not in detail, that there should be some form of ethanol mandate as contained in the Senate bill. So Barton's new draft has a "place holder" for a Renewable Fuel Standard section, but it is blank.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Energy Subcommittee, which Barton chairs, has scheduled a hearing this Thursday, March 13, on the electricity and fuels sections of his bill. Bill Douglass of Douglass Distributing will be testifying at that hearing on behalf of both SIGMA and NACS. His company markets in the Fort Worth area, which is also where Rep. Barton's Congressional District is located.