OUTLOOK: House Rejects Energy Efficiency, Funds Solar.

According to a statement by Joan Claybrook, president, Public Citizen (1600 20th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009; Tel: 202/588- 1000; Website: www.citizen.org), the U.S. House approval of the Energy Policy Act of 2003 (H.R. 6) "abandons consumers and the environment in favor of corporate energy interests. The legislation repeals important electricity regulations and does virtually nothing to minimize oil consumption while offering billions in handouts and tax breaks for some of the wealthiest and most-polluting companies in the world-even as budget deficits are growing."

The giveaways to big oil in the House legislation won't lead to energy independence, said Claybrook. The United States is already the third largest crude oil-producing nation in the world. The problem is not that we don't produce enough, it's that we consume too much. Yet lawmakers rejected a sensible amendment offered by Reps. Sherwood Boehlert and Edward Markey to reduce demand by improving the fuel economy of cars and light trucks.

Lawmakers also rejected an amendment offered by Rep. John Dingell to preserve and strengthen protections for consumers of electricity. The bill rewards a fraudulent industry by replacing vital consumer protections with unregulated corporate control over energy markets, potentially leading to the kind of price-gouging that plagued California consumers after deregulation. It also preempts local control over power lines by giving federal officials the power to override state decisions and seize private property to build power lines.