Page 10 - Oil and Energy-February 2013
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10 • OIL
&
ENERGY
CONTACTS (left to right):
Michael Trunzo, President & CEO: michael
Jim Collura, NEFI Vice President for Government Affairs: jim
Mark S. Morgan, Esq., New England Fuel Institute Regulatory Counsel:
Washington Report
A service of
SM
The 112th Congress was one of the least productive in history
thanks to partisan politics and legislative gridlock. With the Senate
controlled by Democrats and the House of Representatives by a new
breed of small government “Tea Party” Republicans, the two parties
and the Obama Administration agreed on very little and it was a
struggle for lawmakers to reach bipartisan agreement on even the
most uncontroversial legislation. This presented a challenge for all
Washington-based trade associations and non-profits with agendas
important to their membership, including NEFI. Despite this, in the
last two years NEFI was hard at work, educating lawmakers and
policy makers on industry issues and reading thousands of pages of
pending legislation, rules and regulations for issues of interest to its
membership.
Legislative Initiatives – 2012 Year in Review
✓
Educated Lawmakers on the Oilheat Industry –
NEFI pro-
fessional staff participated in over 100 meetings with members of
Congress and/or their staff to educate them on the many challenges
facing the home heating oil industry and its consumers, and to urge
support for industry legislative priorities.
✓
Organized Industry-wide Grassroots Actions –
NEFI spear-
headed high-profile letter-writing campaigns on top issues including
energy prices, NORA reauthorization, energy production, the
Keystone XL pipeline and LIHEAP funding. As a result of these
efforts, NEFI members and supporters sent 2,400 letters to members
of the 112th Congress. NEFI also participated in PMAA’s “Day on
the Hill” events and sponsored the National LIHEAP Action Day.
✓
Pushed for Affordable, American-made Energy –
Due to mas-
sive oil finds and new drilling technologies, experts believe the U.S.
will be 100% energy independent within ten years. Federal policy
must help bring about – not obstruct – this new American energy
renaissance. NEFI has remained a vocal advocate for American-made
energy. As an active member of the Consumer Energy Alliance, NEFI
has pressed for expanded access to U.S. oil reserves and minimal
tax and regulatory burdens on producers, refiners, transporters and
marketers.
✓
Supported Energy Infrastructure –
NEFI was a strong advocate
for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would create thousands of new
American jobs and transport some 700,000 barrels per day of North
American crude oil to the U.S. market. As a result of overwhelming
public support, President Obama is expected to approve the pipeline’s
construction sometime in the coming year.
NEFI Reflects on 2012 and Seeks New Opportunities in 2013
✓
Blocked Anti-Oilheat Legislation –
NEFI spoke out against
legislation that would have encouraged heating oil customers to
convert to natural gas or wood pellets (biomass). NEFI also opposed
calls for legislation to create a national “Low Carbon Fuel Standard”
(LCFS), a “Cap & Trade”-like program for liquid fuels that would
have driven up prices for gasoline, diesel fuel and home heating oil.
All of this legislation died in the 112th Congress.
✓
Supported NORA Reauthorization –
NEFI was a national
partner in the effort to renew the National Oilheat Research Alliance
(NORA), which expired on Feb. 6, 2010. NEFI helped to recruit nearly
100 bipartisan co-sponsors and led the grassroots effort that included
the publishing of the advocacy website
NORA legislation stalled in the 112th Congress due to opposition
from now-retired Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman
(D-NM). Incoming Chairman Ron Wyden (D-WA) is supportive of
NORA’s mission and conditions seem favorable for passage in the
new Congress.
✓
Supported Greater Energy Efficiency –
NEFI helped draft
the bipartisan “Home Energy Savings Act,” which would double
the existing tax credit for the installation of energy efficient appli-
ances from $500 to $1,000, eliminate the current $150 limit on
heating appliances and greatly expand eligibility for oilheat systems.
Congress opted to temporarily extend the current (and inadequate)
credit through 2013. NEFI will support the reintroduction of the
Home Energy Savings Act in the new Congress and continue to press
for these changes.
✓
Introduced Low Sulfur Heating Oil Legislation –
NEFI helped
draft federal legislation to require ultra-low sulfur (15ppm) heating
oil nationwide by June 1, 2016. It would replace the patchwork of
mandates that currently exist or that have been proposed at the state
level by creating a single uniform fuel specification. It would also
improve heating system efficiency and make oilheat more envi-
ronmentally secure. NEFI is currently working with lawmakers to
reintroduce this important legislation in the 113th Congress.
✓
Renewed the Biodiesel Tax Credit –
Working with the biodiesel
industry and our national partner PMAA, NEFI helped secure pas-
sage of a retroactive extension through 2013 for the $1 per gallon
biodiesel blenders’ tax credit. It is likely that the 113th Congress will
resume debate over biofuel tax credit and may consider a compre-
hensive overhaul of federal biofuel blending mandates in the EPA’s
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). NEFI will remain engaged in these
issues given the growing importance of biodiesel to the home heating
oil industry.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The year 2012 was marked by gridlock in Washington and election year politics, and there was limited opportunity to advance the
fuel industry’s legislative and regulatory agendas. Nonetheless, New England Fuel Institute (NEFI) made important progress on several issues and
laid the groundwork for more success in 2013. The following is a report that NEFI made recently to its members looking back on 2012.
