‘Green’ convention tested by gas prices

The Democratic Party is planning to host the “greenest” convention ever at a time when its members are ready to compromise on allowing more offshore oil drilling.

Shortly after the last high-efficiency bulb is turned out and the alternative-fuel generators are shut down in Denver, Democrats will return to Washington under pressure to support lifting the decades-old ban during an election year when voters are paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline.

Keeping the drilling restrictions in place is considered a bedrock goal of the environmental community. But Republicans have attracted attention pressing the issue during the August recess, leading protests on the adjourned House floor all the way up until the convention.

The GOP effort appears to be gaining momentum.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has planned a primetime address at the convention to focus attention on the party’s energy priorities, has indicated he could be open to a compromise on drilling when the Senate resumes business in September.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has chaired the convention committee and has pushed for some of the boldest green initiatives at the Capitol, has also hinted she could bend on the issue.

Even Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has said he could be open to more drilling, if the right compromise is struck.

For environmentalists energized about the prospect of an oil-friendly administration leaving Washington, the election-year shift is giving them heartburn.

“We are disappointed about that,” said Anna Aurilio, director of the Washington office of Environment America. “We don’t think there is need to compromise.”

At issue is the long-standing tension between energy development and environmental protection. Democrats and environmentalists have made headway in recent years to ease the demand for energy — including the first increase in automobiles’ fuel-efficiency standards in a generation — without opening up protected lands that might be rich with oil.

The party leadership is not advocating a full repeal of the offshore-drilling ban, as the GOP wants. But Democratic leaders for the first time are considering allowing a handful of Eastern states to bless oil drilling off their coasts, if it is part of a broader package.

That could set a dangerous precedent, environmental groups fear.

The next two weeks will showcase the tension within the party on the issue.

First, the Democratic Convention will feature an array of environmentally friendly attributes, including high-efficiency lighting systems at the Pepsi Center, generators powered from biodiesel and a goal to slash solid waste by 85 percent. For the first time, the convention will calculate and attempt to offset its carbon footprint, and the party will use hybrid and alternative-fueled buses to transport convention delegates and the media.

Reid, who is set to address the party Wednesday night, is reviewing a plan drafted by five Republicans and five Democrats, which includes some Democrat-favored measures, such as repealing tax breaks for oil companies.

But the plan would give state legislatures in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina the option to decide whether to drill at least 50 miles off their respective coasts. It also could open additional acreage in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, a controversial issue in the swing state of Florida.

A long-time opponent of offshore drilling, Pelosi is now considering her own broad energy proposal with similar drilling elements. She reportedly is also seeking requirements to force utilities to burn electricity from renewable energy, and for oil companies to drill on the lands they lease or risk losing them.

Democrats who support drilling welcome the approach.

“It strikes me as a very adult way to proceed,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a lead author of the Senate compromise-drilling proposal. “All of us who are in marriages and have families know that life is about compromise.”

“Our colleagues may hear the discussion and the criticism of a do-nothing Congress and come back and want to take a closer look at what we have,” said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), another co-author of the plan.

Even if it infuriates the environmental community, Obama’s embrace of an energy plan with drilling elements could give him political cover, especially since it was co-authored by some of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) closest allies, like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

“I think that Obama had effectively painted himself into the corner on the production side of the equation, with virtually no way out,” said Brian Kennedy with the pro-energy industry group Institute for Energy Research. “This gave Obama a way out that he didn’t otherwise have.”

And Democrats sense that the bipartisan compromise would put McCain on defense, since he has questioned whether the plan would raise taxes.

“I can tell you that Sen. Obama is open to that approach and open to the compromise nature of that approach,” said former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D). “It is fairly clear that [McCain] will continue to side with the oil companies.”

But that means he might not be siding with the environmental community.