WASHINGTON — The Senate demanded almost unanimously on Tuesday that President Bush halt the shipment of oil to the country’s strategic petroleum reserve as long as oil prices remain high.
“Sticking oil underground is wrong at this point in time,” Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said as he urged approval of a measure offered by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader.
The Senate voted, 97 to 1, to tell President Bush to halt the shipments to the strategic reserve, the supply of just over 700 million barrels that is stored in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast. The reserve is meant to protect the United States against a disastrous sudden cutoff of oil supplies, like the Arab embargo of the 1970s.
The House was likely to vote Tuesday evening to approve its own measure to cut off shipments to the reserve. If the sentiment in the House mirrors that in the Senate, any veto of the measure by President Bush would be likely to be overridden. But the Senate measure is part of another bill, while the House version is a stand-alone item, so there are some procedural hurdles that must be overcome before the oil-cutoff move can emerge from the full Congress.
President Bush has argued that the 70,000 barrels a day now being added to the reserve is insignificant, compared with the country’s overall consumption of oil. On that point, even some supporters of Mr. Reid’s measure agreed. The United States consumes just under 21 million barrels of oil a day, according to the Energy Department.
Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, conceded that stopping the shipments to the reserve might be largely a symbolic step. Even so, he said, “this is one little thing we can do, and I think we should go ahead and do it.”
The president has argued that shipments to the reserve, which is now about 97 percent full, should be continued until the stockpile reaches its capacity of 727 million barrels. But most lawmakers said the 70,000 barrels a day, while only a tiny fraction of America’s daily consumption, would be better used to add supplies to the overall market, especially with oil now trading for more than $120 a barrel in the spot and futures markets.
President Bush was preparing to depart for the Middle East on Tuesday, and there was no immediate word from the White House about whether Mr. Bush would definitely veto the oil measure.
Only Senator Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who is not seeking re-election, voted against the measure, which took the form of an amendment to a flood insurance bill that was approved by a vote of 92 to 6.
Mr. Reid called the petroleum-reserve cutoff “a good first step” and said Republicans “must abandon their shortsighted strategy of ‘drill, drill, drill.’ ”
Shortly after the vote, Senate Democrats introduced legislation, timed to coincide with the president’s trip to the Middle East, to stop a scheduled arms sale to Saudi Arabia unless that country steps up its oil production.
“When the President meets with King Abdullah on Friday, we cannot settle for a smile, or a handshake, or even a glimpse into his soul,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. “We need a commitment to pump more oil. If Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries do not substantially increase production, we in Congress will block their lucrative arms deals.”
Both the president and Vice President Dick Cheney have called on the Saudis to increase their output of oil.
Earlier Tuesday, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, that would have opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. That proposal, which needed 60 yes votes on a procedural motion to move ahead, got only 42, while 56 Senators voted no, effectively killing the amendment.
Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois interrupted their campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination to vote to halt shipments to the petroleum reserve. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, was not present.
source: 13may2008
The Senate, in a direct challenge to President Bush, voted Tuesday to temporarily halt the shipment of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the government's emergency reserve. Both Democrats and Republicans said such shipments make no sense when oil is costing more than $120 a barrel and could better be used to add supplies to a tight market and possibly lower prices.
"We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. "When American consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood."
Until both chambers of Congress pass the emergency reserve directive and Bush signs it — or Congress enacts it over a presidential veto — the legislation has no force of law. But the Senate's message to the president Tuesday was a strong one.
With Republicans joining Democrats, senators voted 97-1 to suspend the shipments — averaging about 70,000 barrels a day — until the end of the year. Only Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted against the measure.
The House was scheduled to vote on a similar directive later in the day. The Senate measure was added to legislation on flood insurance that passed shortly after the oil reserve vote.
Bush has been steadfast in continuing shipments of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of underground salt domes on the Gulf Coast, arguing that the stockpile should be filled to its maximum capacity of 727 million barrels. It currently is 97 percent full at 701 million barrels, equal to two months of oil imports.
The reserve was created in the 1970s as a precaution against major interruptions of oil supplies.
Senators said the stockpile is big enough to meet any emergency.
Dorgan acknowledged that Tuesday's vote was "a small step forward" as Congress grapples with ways to respond to soaring fuel prices that have pushed gasoline prices to nearly $4 a gallon after a winter of record heating bills.
It's uncertain how much effect — if any — putting 70,000 barrels a day of crude onto the U.S. market that uses more than 21 million barrels a day would have. Dorgan said it could send a signal and curb market speculation.
"It could have a chance of reducing the price a small amount," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who joined the chorus against continuing the shipments. "But make no bones about it, this is no big energy policy. This is one little thing we can do."
Earlier, the Senate rejected a broader Republican energy plan that called for opening an Alaska wildlife refuge and some offshore waters to oil development. Supporters of the measure couldn't get the needed 60 votes to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster threat.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said more domestic oil production is needed to keep prices in check and to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports. "We cannot repeal the law of supply and demand....We need to increase supply in order to lower gas prices," said McConnell.
But opponents said areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal waters that have been off limits to drilling for 25 years ought to remain that out of bounds to oil companies. The GOP measure, defeated Tuesday by a vote of 56-42, would have allowed coastal states to get a waiver to the offshore drilling ban.
"We can't drill our way to lower prices," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
The president has given no indication that he will move to halt shipments to the oil reserve, short of a congressional directive.
"Our position hasn't changed," said White House press secretary Dana Perino earlier this week. She said the president believes the emergency reserve needs to be increased "in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks" and that the oil being put in — a tenth of one percent of global production — "would have a negligible impact on gas prices" if put into the market.
Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, interrupting their presidential campaigns, voted to halt the oil reserve deliveries. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, was not present for the vote.
source: 13may2008
|
To
send Mindfully.org your comments, questions, and suggestions click
here |