E2-Wire

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Senate hurtling toward high-profile fight over oil tax breaks

by Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 03/26/12 11:11 PM ET

It wasn’t precisely clear Monday evening when the next votes on the bill will occur. But the legislation is not expected to pass, as a similar bill failed to garner the necessary 60 votes last year.

The Menendez bill would eliminate a slew of tax deductions for the largest oil companies and extend lapsed or soon-to-expire renewable energy tax incentives.

{mosads}Read more about the bill and Monday’s floor debate here.

NEWS BITES:

GOP mulls energy amendments, but shape of debate unclear

Republicans have pronounced themselves thrilled at the prospect of battling over energy policy on the Senate floor this week.

But following their tactical decision to advance legislation that strips oil industry tax breaks, it remains unclear whether there will be a full-blown battle with amendments and et cetera.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could use procedural tactics to try and prevent amendment votes. But if he doesn’t, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) says Republicans will be ready.

“We actually have a whole range of amendments we could bring up,” Hoeven told reporters after the 92-4 vote that allowed the bill to move forward.

“It could be something like infrastructure, like Keystone,” he said of the Keystone XL oil pipeline project that Republicans are pushing. “It could be something like expanded access both onshore and offshore, it could be expedited permitting, all of these things will help us produce more energy.”

Begich not impressed with ‘show and tell’ energy vote

Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) was among the four lawmakers who voted against moving ahead with consideration of the bill to strip oil industry tax breaks (he had much more company last May).

Begich, a strong advocate of expanded oil drilling, told reporters after the vote that this week’s battle isn’t the serious attempt to address energy policy that he’d like.

“We should have a real energy debate, not this show and tell for campaigning purposes,” Begich said in the Capitol.

“In two days we will have this exact same vote, and everyone on the Republican side who voted for cloture will vote against cloture, and we will have wasted two-and-half days doing nothing on real energy policy in this country and people are still going to be paying higher gas prices,” Begich said. “That’s not acceptable to me.”

House panel to examine West Virginia mine disaster

The House Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on lessons learned from the 2010 Upper Big Branch coal-mine disaster, which resulted in the death of 29 men.

Assistant Labor Secretary Joseph Main of the Mine Safety and Health Administration will testify at the hearing, among others.

House examines Energy Department renewables, fossil budget

A panel of the House Appropriations Committee will hear from Energy Department officials who run the agency’s renewable and fossil energy branches. More about that here.

Senate panel to probe expiring green-energy tax breaks

A Senate Finance Committee panel will gather experts Tuesday to discuss the stakes of allowing green-energy tax breaks to lapse.

A number of key incentives have either expired or, like the critical wind energy production tax credit, will lapse at year’s end absent extension.

Lawmakers will hear from Ethan Zindler, the head of policy analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and several others.

Republicans to probe impact of gas prices on vacations

The House Natural Resources Committee will hold another hearing on gas prices Tuesday. This time the panel will focus on the impact of high pump prices on family vacations and tourism.

Menendez holding energy town hall

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the author of legislation to kill billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks, is holding a Twitter town hall on energy Wednesday.

Read more about it here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s a quick roundup of E2 stories from Monday and the weekend:

– Senate, in 92-4 vote, opens battle over oil tax breaks
– White House: Oil companies don’t need ‘wasteful’ tax breaks
– Groups hope to force disclosure of ‘fracking’ chemicals in Wyoming
– Republicans setting up showdown over oil tax breaks on Senate floor
– Dems hope for political momentum on repeal of oil tax breaks
– Oil industry launches full-court press against Senate bill repealing tax breaks
– Poll: Minority approve of Obama energy policy
– Plouffe: GOP trying to ‘vilify’ green energy
– Speaker Boehner goes toe-to-toe with Obama over Keystone, rising gas prices
– Gas price debate complicates Dems’ case against short-term highway bill
– Documents: White House was all-hands-on-deck as Solyndra collapse neared