federal legislative update congressional republicans draft energy bill to aid the west
rep . joe barton has spliced together emergency legislation aimed at aiding energy markets in the western united states via funding for improvements in california ' s constrained transmission line sp - 15 and directing federal disaster officials to prepare for power outages . the move by republicans came as democratic criticism of the bush administration ' s response to the california power crisis intensified wednesday . although the bill will not contain the price caps sought by democrats and a handful of republicans , barton said he would allow amendments in support of price controls during committee deliberations . a list circulated by gop staff in recent weeks includes a range of ideas such as relaxing environmental rules , subject to a governor ' s request ; increasing federal energy assistance to low - income consumers ; firing up mothballed power plants ; and directing federal facilities to reduce energy use by 10 % . additionally , the bill would grant governors the flexibility to allow power plants that have exceeded emissions limits to temporarily keep operating during emergencies .
federal legislative update
congressional republicans draft energy bill to aid the west
rep . joe barton has spliced together emergency legislation aimed at aiding energy markets in the western united states via funding for improvements in california ' s constrained transmission line sp - 15 and directing federal disaster officials to prepare for power outages . the move by republicans came as democratic criticism of the bush administration ' s response to the california power crisis intensified wednesday . although the bill will not contain the price caps sought by democrats and a handful of republicans , barton said he would allow amendments in support of price controls during committee deliberations . a list circulated by gop staff in recent weeks includes a range of ideas such as relaxing environmental rules , subject to a governor ' s request ; increasing federal energy assistance to low - income consumers ; firing up mothballed power plants ; and directing federal facilities to reduce energy use by 10 % . additionally , the bill would grant governors the flexibility to allow power plants that have exceeded emissions limits to temporarily keep operating during emergencies .