ENERGY
Progress, Compromise, or Conservative Obstruction

On Monday, after the national political conventions have ended, Congress will return to Washington. Topping a packed schedule is energy policy, spurred by the pain of a summer of record gas prices. Conservatives have focused on preventing an extension of the moratorium on offshore drilling, which is slated to expire on Sept. 30. By that date Congress must pass, and Bush must sign, a funding resolution for fiscal 2009 to prevent a shutdown of the federal government. Conservatives have threatened such a shutdown if the moratorium is not lifted. The campaign to lift the 26-year moratorium was spurred by former House speaker Newt Gingrich's "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition drive and President Bush's announcement that he would lift the presidential moratorium established by his father. More than $2 million of spending every day by the carbon industry has allowed the right-wing drilling message to dominate the debate -- despite the fact expanding offshore drilling would have no effect on gas prices. The right wing has pinned blame on "Nancy Pelosi , Harry Reid and Barack Obama" -- despite the fact conservatives held complete control of Washington until 2007. Since then, they have obstructed progressive energy legislation with a dozen Senate filibusters and Bush's threatened vetoes.

DRILL DRILL DRILL: The top priorities for petro-industry conservatives are lifting the moratoria on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and oil shale mining, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Despite the emphasis on oil drilling, House conservatives have branded their legislative package an "All of the Above" energy strategy. The "American Energy Act" (H.R. 6566) blasts away limits on drilling and delivers major subsidies to established, polluting industries -- oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear -- with minimal support for renewable energy and efficiency. In the Senate, conservative Democrats and Republicans known as the "Gang of  Ten" (now 16) have outlined a compromise that would allow drilling 50 miles of the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida with state approval. It offers new support for liquid coal and nuclear power, but also pays for significant incentives for renewable energy and efficiency by removing some subsidies for the oil and gas industry. This industry-friendly compromise is anathema to right-wing ideologues: Limbaugh called the Gang of Ten proposal "stupidity" and "pandering," and the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel noted in horror, "The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on...oil companies!"

PROGRESSIVE PLAN: Recognizing that  "the most important barrel of oil is the one you don't use," progressives in the House are planning to fight back. "Top House Democrats say that shortly after Congress reconvenes," reports E&E News, "they will put on the floor a piece of legislation that will include an expansion of offshore drilling but also a renewable electricity mandate, energy-efficiency standards for buildings and oil industry tax provisions." The plan, drawing from clean energy proposals introduced by Reps. Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Todd Platts (R-PA), and others, is for "a political reverse takedown on the Republicans," according to Markey. Former Clinton administration official David Sandalow told E&E News: "We'll see whether the proponents of all of the above can take yes for an answer." The elements of the plan -- a national renewable electricity standard, building efficiency standards, and removal of oil tax subsidies -- would spur jobs, reduce energy bills, and drive innovation for the future. These provisions have repeatedly passed the House since progressives gained leadership but have died to conservative filibusters in the Senate. House conservatives will fight any proposal that places any limits on Big Oil. Scoffing at the bipartisan and progressive plans, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told the Politico, "So far there is no real proposal out there that has anything to do with really looking for oil and natural gas." Conservative leaders want to block any energy bill, even if it includes major concessions to Big Oil, because that would deprive them of their ability to keep making political points.

OUTSIDE ADVOCACY: As Congress has less than a month to forge compromise, progressives and polluters are pushing competing priorities. A renewable electricity standard reflects Al Gore's We Campaign's call for 100 percent renewable electricity in ten years. Drilling provisions respond to the pressure from Newt Gingrich's right-wing American Solutions For Winning the Future (ASWF). Oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has called for new grid development, permanent tax incentives for wind and solar, and incentives for natural-gas vehicles. And further coal technology subsidies have been a top goal of the coal industry's American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). The battle between polluter and clean energy interests will be fully engaged this September. In fact, Sept. 27 -- the day after the first presidential debate and near the government shutdown deadline -- will see major rallies from both sides. ASWF, fueled by right-wing billionaires and polluters, is releasing a book and a movie to promote "Solutions Day."  That same day, Green For All, the We Campaign, and 1Sky -- with the proud support of the Center for American Progress Action Fund -- are organizing a national day of action for Green Jobs Now. CAP Senior Fellow Van Jones, director of Green For All, describes the choice: "[Gingrich's] answers: more pollution; our answers: more solutions."

Under the Radar

TERRORISM -- GIULIANI: BY REFUSING TO USE THE TERM 'ISLAMIC TERRORISM,' LIBERALS ARE TRYING NOT TO INSULT TERRORISTS: Last night, in his address to the Republican National Convention, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized Democrats for refusing to use the term "Islamic terrorism." "For four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the term 'Islamic terrorism.' ... I think they believe they will insult someone. Please tell me, who they are insulting if they say, 'Islamic terrorism,'" he said. He concluded, "They are insulting terrorists!" Experts, including those in the Bush administration, disagree; such religious rhetoric is actually counterproductive in combating terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security argues that U.S. officials who invoke references to Islam in describing terrorism may be "unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims." The National Counter Terrorism Center urges public officials to "avoid labeling everything 'Muslim'" because "it reinforces the 'U.S. vs. Islam' framework that Al-Qaeda promotes."

CIVIL LIBERTIES -- POLICE CHARGE RNC PROTESTERS WITH TERRORISM: Yesterday, county protesters charged eight Rrepublican National Convention protesters with "conspiring to cause a riot as part of a terrorist act." The County Attorney "said she could not recall no such case in her 24 years with the prosecutor's office." A lawyer representing several of the suspects "called the charges ridiculous," saying the accusations are "an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism." As of yesterday, nearly 300 protesters and journalists have been arrested in the Twin Cities. Salon's Glenn Greenwald called St. Paul "the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be...with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas canisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations." Some journalists, including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and two producers for her show, as well as an AP photographer, have been swept up in police arrests; CNN commenter Donna Brazile "was hit by pepper spray as she walked into the Xcel Center" earlier this week. The media and the St. Paul mayor have been largely silent on the outrageous arrests, with Mayor Chris Coleman (D) defending the police's actions. Sign a letter condemning the arrests here.

HOMELAND SECURITY -- GAO REPORT: RADIATION DETECTION PLAN FALLS SHORT: According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report obtained by the Washington Post, an "ambitious Bush administration program to use new technology to stop radioactive materials from being smuggled into the country has fallen far short of its aims and will likely be sharply curtailed." The project, involving three contractors chosen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), "has been embroiled in allegations that the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office misled Congress about the testing, cost and effectiveness of the machines" used to detect dangerous materials coming into the country. Officials will now deploy the detection machines "on a far more limited basis than originally planned" the report says, a plan "that is dramatically different in scope than the one presented to and approved by Congress." The DHS said two years ago that the $1.2 billion plan is "vital to national security, [and] would dramatically improve the detection of nuclear materials and reduce false alarms experienced by current equipment."  The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has planned a hearing on the report for Sept. 25.

Think Fast

"Sick Americans who travel far or frequently to get medical treatment are skipping or delaying appointments, leaving support groups and applying for grants" because of the high price of gas.

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, "who pleaded guilty to a scheme to corrupt Congress, asked a federal judge for mercy on Wednesday, saying he was 'not a bad man' although he acknowledged he 'did many bad things.'"

A 4,500-year-old ice shelf "nearly the size of Manhattan" that has "broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic" is the latest sign that "warmer temperatures are changing the polar frontier."

Condemning "an illegitimate, unilateral attempt to change your country's borders by force," Vice President Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration's commitment to seeing Georgia enter into NATO. The remarks came one day after the U.S. proposed $1 billion in aide to Georgia.

"An Iraqi freelance photographer working for Reuters has been detained by U.S. and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad," after U.S. military officials said he was "assessed to be a threat." In April, the U.S. military freed AP photographer Bilal Hussein, after holding him for more than two years.

And finally: Jamie Lynn Spears is the latest celebrity to weigh in on the pregnancy of Bristol Palin. Spears reportedly spent "$60 on pink burpcloths" and had them sent over to Palin, according to a "source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor."

Good News

The IRA no longer "presents a threat to peace or democratic politics" in Northern Ireland.

State Watch

TEXAS: Texas Association of Business faces trial for election law violations in boosting conservative candidates.

MICHIGAN: Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigns.

IDAHO: State files suit against Eli Lilly and Co. for downplaying health risks of using their drug Zyprexa.

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Iraq war apologist Michael O'Hanlon: Bush deserves credit for Iraq being free of WMD.

YGLESIAS: What's so clean about "clean coal"?

DWAF: Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK): A champion for brutal aerial hunting.

Daily Grill

"She's only, she's only been a governor for one year? That, that will not work [as experience for Vice President]."
-- MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), 8/29/08

VERSUS

"How can Barack Obama's campaign criticize an inexperienced number two on the Republican side when Democrats have picked...the most inexperienced person to run for President?"
-- Scarborough, 9/03/08