Top News

• ATA Questions Impact of Climate Change Legislation on Fuel Prices

• ATA Calls for Comprehensive Plan to Ensure Affordable Oil

• Petition Asks Congress to Open More Areas to Oil Exploration

Also in the News: Bush Again Vetoes Farm Bill; President Bush Asks Congress to Support Four Steps to Increase Domestic Oil; House Transportation Subcommittee Approves $55 Billion for Transportation; House Democrats Plan to Introduce Bill to Raise Lease Fees; DOT Announces $1 Million Quick Release to Iowa for Urgent Repair of Roads and Bridges Damaged by Floods
 

BUSH AGAIN VETOES FARM BILL
President Bush vetoed the 2008 farm bill on June 18 for the second time after the bill sent to the White House omitted a section on food aid. Congress again passed the bill, including the omitted section, and Bush has again vetoed it.

Bush reiterated his opposition saying the bill lacked program reform and fiscal discipline. Bush said the bill continues subsidies for the wealthy and increases farm bill spending by more than $20 billion, and uses budget gimmicks to hide much of the increase.

In his veto message, Bush said the bill vetoed on May 21, H.R. 2419, did not include the title III provisions that are in this bill. He said in passing H.R. 6124, Congress had an opportunity to improve on H.R. 2419 by modifying certain “objectionable, onerous, and fiscally imprudent” provisions. “Unfortunately, Congress chose to send me the same unacceptable farm bill provisions in H.R. 6124,” President Bush said.

PRESIDENT BUSH ASKS CONGRESS TO SUPPORT FOUR STEPS TO INCREASE DOMESTIC OIL
President Bush asked Congress June 18 to allow for increased domestic oil production, including lifting the ban on offshore drilling, tapping into oil shale and expanding U.S. refining capacity and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration.

President Bush said that while long run alternatives are the key, “in the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. Congress must face a hard reality: Unless members are willing to accept gas prices at today’s painful levels or even higher, our nation must produce more oil, and we must start now.”

Bush has long called for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration. But White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said he now wants to include lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling.

Perino said President Bush wants to work with states to determine where offshore drilling should occur, according to published reports. The federal government would share revenues with the states, he said.

President Bush also planned to send a delegation headed by Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman to Saudi Arabia to discuss oil prices. The meeting of oil producing and consuming nations was expected to discuss ways of dealing with soaring oil prices and preventing future increases.

The American Trucking Associations has repeated called for increasing domestic oil supplies and refining capacity, including the environmentally sound exploration of ANWAR and expansion of the area where companies can drill for oil and natural gas along the U.S. coastline.

Currently, drilling is limited to the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico. ATA has requested that MMS expand drilling areas well beyond those regions, including acreage off the coast of Alaska.

A group of House Democrats held a press conference June 18 in response to the President’s call for increased domestic production, and said the United States can not drill its way to lower prices.

They rejected Bush’s call for more production, and questioned oil company motives, arguing that the oil companies are already not drilling where they can in an effort to keep prices inflated.

 

HOUSE TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES $55 BILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION
The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee approved a $108.3 billion appropriations bill June 20 by voice vote that includes $55 billion in discretionary spending for transportation, housing and other independent agencies.

The bill would provide $40.2 billion for highways and $10.3 billion for public transit services, including $1.8 billion for new commuter transit lines.

The Highway Trust Fund is facing a deficit in 2009, according to the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. The Bush Administration had requested that $3.2 billion be borrowed from the mass transit fund to help with highway fund deficits.

Senators Baucus (D-MT), Grassley (R-IA) and Murray (D-WA) have prepared amendment language that would transfer $8 billion from the general fund to the HTF and have targeted the must-pass FAA extension bill as the legislative vehicle as one effort to solve the highway trust fund deficit. ATA supports the inclusion of the HTF provision in the FAA extension and is asking that states contact their Senators urging them to support the amendment as well.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS PLAN TO INTRODUCE BILL TO RAISE LEASE FEES
Four House Democrats said June 17 that they would introduce a bill raising lease fees for oil companies that refrain from drilling on leased land. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Nick Rahall II (D-W. Va.), Rahm Emanual (D-Ill.) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) also said they would cosponsor an existing bill that would prohibit oil companies from obtaining new land leases if they fail to drill for oil on current leases.

“At a time when our constituents are paying $4 per gallon at the pump, the answer is to make sure that oil companies are producing on the land they currently own,” the Members of Congress wrote in a letter to colleagues. “They need to either use it or lose it.”

ATA QUESTIONS IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION ON FUEL PRICES
Testifying on behalf of the American Trucking Associations before the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Con-way Inc. Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs Randy Mullett urged Congress to take a cautious approach to climate change initiatives. He stated that federal climate change policy must avoid encouraging a patchwork of local, state, and regional climate change laws that could hinder the ability of the trucking industry to function in interstate commerce. Citing the nation's 750,000 motor carriers who deliver goods across state lines, Mullet said the industry supports federal preemption of local, state and regional climate change laws.

“The trucking industry is concerned over what cap-and-trade legislation will do to the price of fuel we consume,” Mullett said. “Our industry can not absorb rapid increases in fuel costs. The trucking industry is extremely sensitive to how climate change legislation may further escalate fuel prices. ATA is urging Congress to carefully evaluate fuel price impacts that result from climate change legislation.”

ATA CALLS FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO ENSURE AFFORDABLE OIL
The American Trucking Associations on June 24 urged the Bush Administration and Congress to implement a comprehensive plan to increase domestic oil supplies and ensure an affordable supply of oil for the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers and American consumers. Speaking at a National Press Club press conference hosted by Consumers For More Energy, ATA Senior Vice President Tim Lynch encouraged Congress to implement policies that will reduce oil demand, accelerate the development of research and technology, prudently increase government oversight of the petroleum markets and increase domestic oil supplies. Lynch was joined at the press conference by the American Highway Users Alliance, National Defense Council Foundation, The National Grange and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. Lynch said ATA recognizes that the solution to this problem is multi-faceted and that we need a broad relief agenda that includes increasing domestic oil production to address the escalating cost of fuel and relieve the financial hardships of the trucking industry and all drivers.

PETITION ASKS CONGRESS TO OPEN MORE AREAS TO OIL EXPLORATION
The organization American Solutions for Winning the Future recently launched a campaign to petition Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline and diesel prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves. The campaign, titled “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less,” is asking Americans to sign a petition urging Congress to remove obstacles to drilling for domestic oil. To date, the group has collected more than 850,000 signatures. ATA policy supports environmentally responsible oil exploration in areas currently deemed off-limits by Congress and therefore we strongly encourage you to sign the petition, which can be found at www.americansolutions.com. American Solutions for Winning the Future is an organization designed to influence government policy and is chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

 

DOT

DOT ANNOUNCES $1 MILLION QUICK RELEASE TO IOWA FOR URGENT REPAIR OF ROADS AND BRIDGES DAMAGED BY FLOODS
The Department of Transportation said June 25 that it is making $1 million available immediately in emergency relief funds for Iowa to help pay for urgent repairs to roads and bridges damaged by floods.

“We're making this down payment so repairs can start immediately and communities can receive the assistance they need without further delay,” Secretary Mary Peters said. “The people of Iowa need to know that everything will be done to restore the state's damaged highways and bridges quickly.”

Secretary Peters said the $1 million quick release was intended to help Iowa address repairs that need immediate attention to restore essential traffic in eastern portions of the state until a full assessment of the damage is completed.

The Secretary added that the Department would continue to work with officials from Iowa and other Midwestern states as they evaluate the extent of road damage caused by the floods. She said more resources will likely be made available based on those evaluations.

The Federal Highway Administration’s emergency relief program provides funds to states for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. The program typically works on a reimbursable basis.