Mark Udall: “we all know why this bill was rushed to the floor today, and why it is being considered under a shortcut process that…”

“we all know why this bill was rushed to the floor today, and why it is being considered under a shortcut process that limits debate and prevents any consideration of even a single amendment. It's because the Republican leadership thinks they need to make a show of doing something about the price of gasoline. But just because they are feeling some political heat does not mean that we should pass this bill, which I think does not deserve to be approved. The bill would require State and local governments to comply with a new Federal schedule for approving permits to site, construct, or expand a refinery. To do that, it would repeal part of the brand-new Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gave the States the ability to request authority to trigger a process that would coordinate Federal and State actions on a refinery. In other words, it is a new Federal mandate--and it probably would not do anything to speed up construction of any refineries, for several reasons. First, more Federal bureaucracy and red tape means more delays, because heavy-handed Federal requirements--including judicially- enforceable deadlines--will bring exactly the resistance and litigation that the provisions in the Energy Policy Act were intended to forestall. And, second, it's economics that controls decisions about refinery capacity.…”