Oil refinery bill fails to pass out of Senate committee

Oct. 26 -- The head of the Senate Environment Committee failed to pass legislation out of his committee during an Oct. 26 vote that would have made it easier for oil refineries to expand.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee chairman, urged passage of the bill to increase gasoline production and lower fuel costs, but critics said the bill would lead to more pollution and giveaways to the oil industry.

Inhofe’s bill failed after Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., announced he would not support the measure and voted with the committee’s eight Democrats to defeat the Gas Price Act, which would have streamlined the permitting process for opening new refineries and reduced the amount of time required to obtain permits. A maze of permitting requirements has discouraged oil companies from opening new refineries to boost production, Inhofe argued.

Democrats, however, expressed skepticism that permitting entanglements were behind the oil companies’ reluctance to open new refineries, saying oil companies have an economic incentive to keep fuel prices high.

They also objected to a portion of the bill that would have offered economic incentives to communities wanting to help oil companies develop refineries on closed military bases. Democratic critics called it a giveaway to oil companies that already are making large profits.

While voting against Inhofe’s bill, Chafee also helped defeat a counter proposal put forward by Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., that would have created what he called an oil refinery reserve to provide fuel under emergency situations.

The Jeffords’ amendment would have allowed the Environmental Protection Agency, acting in cooperation with the Energy Department, to reopen and operate closed refineries or construct new refineries. Jeffords said it would operate similar to the existing strategic petroleum reserve.

However, Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., called Jeffords’ proposal ``mind-boggling.´´ He said it would represent nationalization of the oil industry and equated it with socialism.