The GOP tax bill working its way through Congress contains provisions that have huge ramifications for the energy industry, but legislators in Washington may not be done yet.
A top Republican on energy issues, Senator Lisa Murkowski, is eyeing a sweeping piece of energy legislation for 2018. With her long-sought goal of opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) nearly a done deal, Murkowski has plans to tee up a bipartisan energy bill that could potentially break through the usual Washington logjam.
The Alaska Republican, according to Platts, is trying to pitch the energy bill as a way to spark momentum in the oft-cited but vague $1 trillion infrastructure plan supported by President Trump. In fact, the White House just said that President Trump would unveil “detailed legislative principles” for the massive infrastructure proposal in January. That would likely “serve as the building block” for the GOP bill, according to The Hill.
Moving such a monumental piece of legislation is much less likely with the GOP tax bill blowing a trillion-dollar hole in the budget deficit. But Senator Murkowski says she has the vehicle to get the bill moving, and wants to White House to look at it because it is “ready to go” and it is “already pre-vetted,” according to Platts.
What she is referring to is a bill that nearly got signed into law in 2016. Sen. Murkowski and her colleagues on the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee have worked on it for more than two years – in fact they have introduced the legislation for three years running. Related: Oil Price Boom Keeps Lid On Natural Gas Prices
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