On July 22, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he will bring a limited oil spill response and energy bill to the floor and postpone Senate action on climate change until fall. Reid acknowledged that a comprehensive energy and climate change bill would not attract the 60 votes needed for passage.
Reid plans to unveil a four-part bill combining oil spill response measures with energy initiatives that are intended to garner bipartisan support, such as promoting home energy efficiency and natural gas-powered vehicles. The bill would also boost funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which helps pay for state and federal recreation programs.
However, sources are pointing out that a provision in the energy bill would impose new chemical disclosure requirements on a controversial onshore drilling technique which would force companies to publicly disclose the chemicals involved in hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from shale deposits. The widely used process, also called “fracking,” involves injecting water, sand and chemicals deep underground to force the gas to the surface.
A copy of the legislation can be found at the following link: http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=326722&