Reporter Darren Goode, writing on the PoliticoPro.com website, said this morning that “scores of House Republicans are lining up to pass a bill that could mean billions of dollars for the natural gas industry.”
The keepers of the Conservative flame in the U.S. House are members of the House Republican Study Committee. According to Goode
“Members of Committee – including some tea party backers – have signed on to the T. Boone Pickens-backed plan to provide federal incentives for natural gas vehicles.”
The NAT GAS Act (H.R. 1839) “offers tax incentives for production of natural gas-powered vehicles from big 18-wheelers down to passenger cars.” Goode quotes Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) as saying “It’s a much more efficient use of taxpayer’s money than let’s say other forms of quote clean energy that have no chance of making us anywhere near energy independent anytime soon.”
Goode points out the bipartisan nature of support, writing:
“Amid high-volume disputes on gas prices and EPA greenhouse gas regulations, an energy bill that joins those like Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Don Young (R-Alaska) with Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) has impressive support.
“A Senate effort – led by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) – involves some equally unusual bedfellows.”
Goode finishes his story by reporting:
“The House bill – introduced April 6 and led by Republican Study Committee members John Sullivan of Oklahoma and Kevin Brady of Texas and Democrats Dan Boren of Oklahoma and John Larson of Connecticut – already has 178 co-sponsors and sponsors think they’ll reach far more when it comes up for a vote in the full House.”
— The Pickens Team