GOP sends 2005 energy funding bill to the floor for 2012, high speed rail money to Corps

Washington, Jun 15 -

The House Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The legislation provides the annual funding for the various agencies and programs under the Department of Energy, including the National Nuclear Security Administration, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and various regional water and power authorities. The legislation totals $30.6 billion – a cut of $5.9 billion below the President’s request and $1 billion below last year – which brings the total cost of the bill to nearly the 2005 funding level.

Montana's Denny Rehberg and Wyoming's Cynthia Lummis were among the 26 earth haters voting against the Democrats and one brave Republican, Arizona's Jeff Flake.

In addition, the Committee today approved an amendment – offered by Subcommittee Chairman Frelinghuysen (R-NJ): The amendment provides $1.028 billion in emergency funding to the Army Corps of Engineers to repair damage caused by recent storms and floods, and to prepare for future disaster events. The funding is offset by a rescission of the remaining emergency High Speed Rail funding that was originally approved in the failed “stimulus” bill. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Panaeolus campanulatus and Panaeolus semiovatus on horse shit

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Democrats seized on this, hoping to put pressure on New Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, the Republican manager of the energy and water bill. To bursts of applause from fellow Democrats, Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.), Frelinghuysen's co-manager, began to recite aloud from a list of Corps projects built with emergency funds in Afghanistan and Iraq - and not offset by the GOP.

After a post at The Angry River Rat ip posed this question: "Thanks, TC. In your opinion, knowing what you know now, who is in the best position to put the Corps off releasing water earlier this year?" The answer from TCMack:

Well Larry, Corps control their own destiny set by the guide lines given to them by Congress. Meaning that if the Corps wanted to change the Master Manual quickly and increase flow they would have needed an act of Congress to get that done. The problem with that is two things; one the excessive high water and flow from the Missouri and trying to get down stream Representatives an Senators to go along with a possible flooding of their states. For example Corps when they release water from the dams they have to take in account how that will affect the whole system from Yankton to New Orleans. There are no dams between this area, and if they let water out they need to be sure that it will not cause flooding in the lower areas. That leads to the second point. There are more representatives in the House on the lower end of the basin than on the Northern end of the basin. This affected the legislation in 1944 and it affects policy now. The likelyhood that Congress would have allowed early releases last fall or early spring would not have gone through. A once and a life time event happens, there is very little an organization can do.