House Dems to offer up Oil Reserve ‘swap’

House Democrats will move a little-discussed energy bill this week that many in the caucus believe is the majority’s best chance to garner the two-thirds vote likely necessary to clear the chamber.

Jettisoning plans to offer their “use it or lose it” proposal and modifying their back-up plan to ask President Bush for an “emergency” release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Democrats have settled on a plan to sell light, sweet crude oil from the Reserve to energy companies, who would in turn sell back heavier crude to the federal government.

{mosads}Leadership aides said the strategy was decided upon Tuesday night, and they plan on offering the bill on the floor Thursday, likely under the suspension of the normal House rules.

The so called SPR “swap” proposal – championed earlier this year by Reps. Nick Lampson (D-Texas), Chet Edwards (D-Texas) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and cosponsored by a handful of Republicans – would have the advantage of allowing domestic refineries a chance to purchase oil that is more easily refineable and that they could get to the market with greater ease, while allowing the Reserve to remain at or very near its current 97 percent capacity.

Proponents of the plan say that the swap could also generate as much as $1 billion in revenue, which would be devoted toward renewable energy research and technology, something both Democratic and Republican leaders have said is an important goal of any energy policy.

“It is a common sense proposal that should garner the support of oil patch Democrats and other Members who would like to provide a pragmatic fix to the high cost of oil and gas,” said an aide to one of one of those Democratic members.

A Republican leadership aide, reacting to the SPR “swap” proposal, accused the Democrats of doing nothing more than running out the clock on this year's legislative calendar.

“It’s more of the Democrats’ duck, bob and weave strategy to avoid like the plague an up-or-down vote on meaningful, all-of-the-above energy legislation,” said GOP Conference spokesman Brian Schubert. “Tomorrow they’ll have another opportunity to hold the meaningful vote that American families deserve when House Republicans introduce the American Energy Act.”

GOP leaders had blasted the emergency release from the SPR as “another hoax,” saying the release of the equivalent of three-and-a-half day’s worth of oil will have no impact on gas prices. Democrats have pointed to past releases from the reserve to bolster their argument that it will again drive prices down.