With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, President Obama might have a hard time stopping a new composite energy bill. The last comprehensive energy bill passed by the Senate was the Energy Policy Act of 2005; new legislation is long overdue. Moreover, the piecemeal approach taken by the Republican-led House in the 113th Congress has failed. There have been two significant developments between 2005 and 2014 in terms of energy in America: the Keystone Pipeline and hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. Although Republicans have proposed many bills about these two topics, US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has refused to bring most of the Republican energy initiatives around the Keystone Pipeline and natural gas to a vote; this will change if Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) becomes the new Majority Leader. Also, according to The Hill, Senator McConnell has promised that if elected majority leader, he would give Republican committee chairmen more power to legislate.
But how would this change of the guard manifest itself? Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as the new chairperson of the Energy and Natural Resources committee, would become one of the most powerful members of Congress. Senator Murkowski released her agenda for the committee in February 2014 through 121-page document titled “Energy 20/20.” Murkowski sets out a plan to make the United States energy independent by 2020. Senator Murkowski proposes to finish the Keystone Pipeline and capitalize on North America’s energy boom, to expand drilling to the Outer Continental Shelf and the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, and to allow for the exportation of oil and natural gas.
Moreover, Republicans could stifle Democratic opposition on energy issues. Topics like the Keystone Pipeline are divisive for Democrats, but unifying for Republicans. On April 10, 2014, eleven Democratic senators sent a letter to President Obama urging for his support of the Keystone Pipeline. In fact, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is one of the most vocal supports of the project. The same goes for hydraulic fracturing: North Dakota Senator Mary Heitkamp (D-ND) was the coauthor of a bill signed by President Obama earlier this year that expedites oil fracturing in the Bakken Shale Formation. If Republicans present these ideas in a comprehensive energy bill that has something for just about everyone, President Obama would have a harder time vetoing the legislation, especially if he wishes to avoid early lame duck status.
How these initiatives would shape the American economy and environment has yet to be seen. However, the promise of legislative progress and bipartisan initiative in some area bodes well for the 114th Congress.