House and Senate negotiators worked past midnight to complete the non-tax part of a sweeping energy bill. The legislation calls for subsidies for clean energy technology. But the House rejected a Senate-backed plan that would have required 10 percent of electricity be generated by renewable sources.
STEVE INSKEEP, host: It's taken years to get this far, but negotiators in Congress are close      to passing an energy bill.  The overall goal is to cut reliance on      foreign oil and promote conservation.  House and Senate negotiators      agreed early this morning on some key provisions, though they are still      debating tax breaks for energy companies.  NPR's Brian Naylor reports      this morning on what's in the plan and, just as important, what's left      out.</s>BRIAN NAYLOR reporting: President Bush has pushed Congress to adopt a nationwide energy policy      since he first came to office, and now appears on the verge of reaching      his long-sought goal, largely because lawmakers have avoided some of the      pitfalls of the past.  The biggest fell out of the bill over the weekend      when House negotiators conceded defeat over a controversial proposal to      give producers of the gasoline additive MTBE immunity from legal      liability.  The additive has polluted groundwater supplies in several      states, and a similar liability clause torpedoed energy legislation in      the last Congress.</s>BRIAN NAYLOR reporting: But while the House negotiators conceded the MTBE provision, they gave no      ground on some modest conservation provisions favored by the Senate.      Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota, argued for a provision      calling for cutting energy consumption by a million barrels of oil a day.</s>Senator BYRON DORGAN (Democrat, North Dakota): We need oil.  I      understand that.  But we are increasingly addicted to oil that comes from      off of our shores.  It's now 60 percent.  The expectation is that will      grow to 69 percent.  We need to address it.  This is addressing it in the      most minimal way, but, nonetheless, is a step in the right direction.</s>NAYLOR: But House negotiators, led by conference chairman Joe Barton, a      Texas Republican, were dismissive of the proposal.</s>Representative JOE BARTON (Republican, Texas; Conference Chairman): Just      telling the president to wave a magic wand, and tell each and every one      of us that we need to conserve may sound good, and, obviously, our      friends in the Senate think it's good policy, but those of us who are      elected directly by the people every two years have a little bit      different view of that.</s>NAYLOR: The House also rejected a Senate-backed plan that would have      required 10 percent of electricity be generated by renewable sources.      But renewables weren't left out of the bill entirely.  The measure      contains billions of dollars in loan guarantees offered for everything      from wind generation to coal gasification to nuclear power plants.      Massachusetts Democrat, Ed Markey, said the guarantees were unnecessary      subsidies at a time when energy prices are at record highs.</s>Representative ED MARKEY (Democrat, Massachusetts): It's bad enough that      we are allowing the oil companies, the coal, the gas, the nuclear to tip      consumers upside down and shake money out of their pockets, and we're not      going to do anything about it in this bill, but to then shake money out      of them as taxpayers, as well, to subsidize the very same companies, is      absolutely fiscally irresponsible.</s>NAYLOR: Opponents of an inventory of offshore oil sites also used fiscal      arguments to press their case.  They say the inventory could be the first      step toward drilling on the outer continental shelf, the OCS, something      Florida lawmakers, such as Republican Michael Bilirakis, opposed.</s>Representative MICHAEL BILIRAKIS (Republican, Florida): We have to ask      ourselves:  Why do we want to spend billions of dollars to take an      inventory of all of this OCS area--is under a moratorium, which it      is--which cannot be drilled for oil and natural gas.</s>NAYLOR: But the effort to remove the provision from the bill failed.      The energy bill's biggest impact may be on grain farmers.  It would      double production of ethanol to seven and a half billion gallons by 2012.      The tax parts of the measure remain a work in progress, work that's      being done behind closed doors.  But lawmakers are likely to provide some      $10 billion in tax breaks for energy companies, which the White House      says are unnecessary, but which the president is not threatening to veto.      Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: This is NPR News.