Imagine a country suffering from the highest energy costs in its 232 year history. A country that imports 70% of its needs for an expensive, environmentally hazardous fuel that enriches some of the most unstable, oppressive governments on Earth to power its gargantuan transportation sector. Then imagine a burgeoning alternative energy industry, ready to take shape in the country, waiting to boom, hoping for the necessary government cooperation to get itself off the ground. The leadership of the country craft legislation to allow for investment tax credits for alternative energy, a boon to investors desperate to find a good place for capital in a risky economic market. A bill which would practically guarantee a groundswell of investment to fund the new industry. The bill passes with ease through the lower chamber of the country’s bicameral legislature. But when the bill enters the legislature’s upper house, the minority party stops the bill cold, by refusing to even allow debate on the legislation vis-a-vis a procedural trick.

Well guess what? You don’t have to imagine anymore, because the scenario presented above is taking place right now in Congress. The bill is The Energy Independence and Tax Relief Act (H.R. 6049). The upper house of the legislature is the United States Senate. The minority party blocking the measure are the Republicans and the parliamentary tactic they’re using to stop desperately needed investment and progress in the alternative energy sector is the filibuster.

The filibuster is a obstructive parliamentary tactic which literally means “taking out a bill”. The original method was to extend debate on the bill indefinitely until the legislative window for its passage closed. In the Congress of years past this provided for comedic theater as Senators would roll out the cots and take turns on the lectern speaking ad infinitum, day and night, sometimes going so far as to read out of the telephone book, to keep a bill from advancing. However, nowadays Senate rules permit a procedural filibuster, which basically has all the same power of the previous incarnation without forcing anyone to be inconvenienced by speaking. In order to stop a filibuster, known as invoking cloture, in the US Senate a supermajority of 3/5 is needed, or 60 votes. Therefore a party can have a firm majority of votes, up to 59, and still be unable to move a bill forward should the minority choose to filibuster and can muster a mere 41 votes to cut off debate. The GOP minority in the Senate in on pace to blow all previous filibuster records out of the water as seen in the chart below:

As of last December 16th, the Senate Minority had already used the filibuster to prevent legislation from advancing a record 62 times and that was only halfway through the Congressional term. By the end of the current 110th Congress, the GOP is on pace to more than double any previous Congresses filibuster total with this obstructionist tactic used to thwart the will of the duly elected majority in the Senate. In the past the filibuster has been used to repeatedly stop civil rights legislation in its tracks, today it’s being used to prevent our economy from moving past oil and into the 21st Century of renewable energy. The GOP minority has twice thus far filibustered this desperately needed legislation, not even allowing an up or down vote on one of the most pressing issues of our time.

You can takepart by contacting your Senator and demanding they support the swift consideration and passage of H.R. 6049, The Energy Independence and Tax Relief Act, which will help provide the capital needed to fund the clean, renewable energy of our future.

LINKS:

Reuters: Senate blocks debate of clean energy tax credits

The Oil Drum: Senate blocks debate of clean energy tax credits

Solar Energy Industry Association: Breaking News