The Senate held votes this week on competing Democratic and Republican oil bills.  The Democratic bill, S. 940, which would raise taxes on big oil companies, was defeated on a vote of 52 to 48. The Republican bill, S. 953, which would force the Obama Administration to increase offshore oil leasing, was defeated on a vote of 42 to 57. Under Senate rules, sixty votes were required to pass either measure.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had this to say about those who voted against the bill to raise taxes on the five largest oil companies: “They would rather cut college scholarships, slash cancer research, and end Medicare than take away taxpayer-funded giveaways to oil companies that are raking in billions of dollars in profits.”  Three Democrats (Senators Mark Begich of Alaska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska) voted against the oil tax hike, while the two Republican Senators from Maine (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins) voted for it.  And Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) had this to say about the Republican offshore bill:  “The solution to skyrocketing gas prices is simple: increase supply.”  The establishment media regularly try to portray Senator Reid as a statesman and Senator Inhofe as a conservative ideologue.  These contrasting quotes allow readers to judge for themselves.

Keith Bradsher and Hiroko Tabuchi report in the New York Times today:

Years of procrastination in deciding on long-term disposal of highly radioactive fuel rods from nuclear reactors are now coming back to haunt Japanese authorities as they try to control fires and explosions at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Some countries have tried to limit the number of spent fuel rods that accumulate at nuclear power plants: Germany stores them in costly casks, for example, while China sends them to a desert storage compound in the western province of Gansu. But Japan, like the United States, has kept ever-larger numbers of spent fuel rods in temporary storage pools at the power plants, where they can be guarded with the same security provided for the plants.

Now those temporary pools are proving the power plant’s Achilles’ heel, with the water in the pools either boiling away or leaking out of their containments, and efforts to add more water having gone awry. While spent fuel rods generate significantly less heat than newer ones do, there are strong indications that some fuel rods have begun to melt and release extremely high levels of radiation.

The reason why the United States stores spent fuel rods on site is because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been able to block building the Yucca Mountain nuclear depository in Nevada for years.  In 2009, President Barack Obama cancelled Yucca Mountain entirely.

Senator Reid and President Obama may now want to reconsider their opposition to Yucca Mountain or explain why taking an obvious step to avoid a nuclear disaster like Japan’s isn’t really necessary.

Late in the 111^th Congress, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was building bipartisan support for a Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Due to a parliamentary quirk, the Resolution needed only a majority to pass (that is, it wouldn’t necessitate 60 votes to beat a filibuster) and it was entitled to a vote, so the Democratic leadership in the Senate could not sweep it under a rug. Moreover, there are 23 Senate Democrats up for re-election in 2012, and the political mood of the country in the summer of 2010 was shifting right. (This was evidenced by the GOP’s success in last November’s elections.) As such, an EPA reform bill was an attractive vote for many Senate Democrats from purple states, where the EPA is held is lower esteem than in, say, California or New York. As a result of these factors, Sen. Murkowski’s Resolution appeared to have good prospects.

Enter Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Just as Sen. Murkowski’s Resolution was gaining steam, Sen. Rockefeller introduced legislation that would delay the EPA’s regulation of greenhouse gases for two years, rather than repeal its authority outright (as Sen. Murkowski’s Resolution would have done).

By introducing this lesser measure, Sen. Rockefeller provided Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) an opportunity. Sen. Reid had been in a bind. He didn’t want Sen. Murkowski’s Resolution to pass, because it would upset the DNP’s environmentalist base. But he recognized the tough political position of his colleagues.

Sen. Reid’s solution was to promise to hold a vote on the Rockefeller bill, at some unspecified future date. This provided Democratic Senators political cover from having to make a tough decision on the Murkowski Resolution. They could voice their support for Rockefeller’s measure, and thereby prove to their constituents that they want to reign in the EPA, without having to take a controversial vote. As a result of Sen. Reid’s promise, Senator Murkowski’s Resolution failed in the Senate, by a 53-47 vote.

Naturally, the Senate Majority Leader proceeded to break his promise. The 111^th Congress ended without a vote on EPA reform. Reid had used Rockefeller’s legislation for political expediency, and then discarded it.

In the 112^th Congress, it’s déjà vu all over again. This time around, it’s Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) who are building bipartisan support to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. They co-wrote a bill, H.R. 910 (the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011), that would have the same effect as the Murkowski Resolution. Last week, they gained the support of two senior House Democrats (Rep. Colin Peterson (D-MN)and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)), and this week, the legislation passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee with strong bipartisan support.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell unexpectedly introduced the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 as an amendment to S. 493, legislation that provides federal funding for research and development programs for small businesses. As was the case in the last Congress, EPA reform has good political prospects in the upper chamber, due to the fact that 23 Senate Democrats are up for re-election in 2012, and also because the paramount concern of voters is the economy.

So Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in a bind, again. And again, he turned to Rockefeller. Last night Rockefeller indicated he will offer his legislation to delay EPA climate regulations as an amendment to S. 493. According to an Energy and Environment News report this morning (subscription required), Senate leadership is thinking about offering the Rockefeller amendment “side by side” with the McConnell amendment. That way, some politically vulnerable Senate Democrats could vote for the Rockefeller effort, and some could vote for the McConnell amendment. Neither measure would pass, but all Senate Democrats get to vote for EPA reform, and thereby attain political coverage.

As of noon today, the vote on S. 493 had yet to take place. It is unclear from the latest news reports whether Senate leadership intends to hold a vote today or after next week’s recess. [Update: It is now being reported that the vote will be delayed until after next week's recess]

While I can’t fault Senate Majority Leader Reid for this cynical strategy (it’s his job), I don’t see how West Virginians aren’t appalled by their senior Senator’s actions. Thanks to the Obama administration’s war on coal, the entire West Virginia Congressional delegation supports H.R. 910/McConnell amendment…except for Senator Jay Rockefeller.

Worse still, it’s not as if Rockefeller is sitting out the debate; rather, he’s actively undermining EPA reform—for the second time! His constituents are getting hammered by this Administration’s EPA, more so than any other state in America. Yet he continues to spurn the interests of West Virginians in order to carry Harry Reid’s water.

The Senate may vote today on the McConnell Amendment to S. 493.  The amendment is identical to S. 482, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which was passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday evening, with bipartisan support. The legislation would revoke the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Although this looked like a long shot when Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) surprised everyone by offering it yesterday, the Democratic leadership realized late yesterday afternoon that they might lose.  That’s when Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced his two-year delay bill as an amendment.  That has fallen flat.  The outcome appears to be in doubt this morning.  There could be a vote and McConnell’s amendment could pass narrowly.  There could be a vote and the amendment could fail narrowly.  There could be a deal on all the amendments pending and the amendment could be withdrawn as part of the deal.  McConnell could pull the amendment because it’s going to fail.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) could pull the bill from the floor because the amendment is going to pass.

My guess is that they can’t quite get to 60.  It might be worth a vote if it fails narrowly because then we would know who needs encouragement.  But if it’s going to fall short, the better outcome in my view would be to pull the amendment, wait for an overwhelming House vote to build momentum, and then provide encouragement to a lot of Senators for a vote later this year.  But that’s just my view.  There’s quite a bit that we don’t know, and in the end it will be up to McConnell and Reid