Platts: US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending bill
Platts: US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending bill
US House passes $31.6-bil 2008 energy and water spending bill
Washington (Platts)--17Jul2007
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a $31.6-billion 2008energy and water spending bill by a 312-112 vote. The bill would provide asignificant increase in funding for solar energy, biofuels and otherclean-energy technologies, as well as $1 billion in funds for members'priority projects. The vote margin would be sufficient to withstand President Bush'sthreatened veto of the measure, and any spending bill that significantlyexceeds his budget request. The bill would provide the Department of Energy with $25.2 billion forfiscal 2008, an increase of $1.1 billion over the current funding level and$480 million more than DOE requested. Renewable energy programs would receive$632 million more than the Bush administration request. The bill would also increase funding for various clean-coal programs,providing these initiatives with $709 million, or $142 million more than DOErequested. DOE science programs would also see increased funding, especiallyinitiatives that use state-of-the-art "supercomputers" to model the effects ofglobal warming. The bill funded some of the Bush administration's nuclear energypriorities, but not others. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, which isdesigned to spur a renaissance in civilian nuclear energy through thereprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and other means, would receive only $120million compared with the administration's $405 million request. The proposed federal nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevadawould receive all of the administration's requested $494 million, however,despite the project's low political clout since Nevada Democrat and Yuccaopponent Harry Reid assumed the Senate's top job earlier in 2007. Meanwhile, a group of Republicans failed to eliminate all or part of a $1billion earmarks package inserted into the bill by unanimous consent after itwas approved by the appropriations committee. Appropriators opted for a post-committee approach to attaching earmarksto the measure so they can receive extra scrutiny, Appropriations ChairmanDavid Obey, Democrat-Wisconsin has said. The amendment by Representative John Campbell, Republican-California,that would have struck the entire earmark package, was defeated on a 39-388recorded vote. --Jean Chemnick, jean_chemnick@platts.com
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