NEFI CONTACT: Jim Collura, NEFI VP for Government Affairs (jimcollura@nefi.com)

BILL PROPOSES INTEREST-FREE LOANS FOR HOME EFFICIENCY UPGRADES
U.S. Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) has joined five other members of Congress to introduce a bill that would establish a $10 billion National Home Energy Savings Revolving Fund. The fund would empower approved local governments to issue interest-free loans of up to $10,000 over two years for a qualified home energy audit and for making home efficiency upgrades to a primary residence, including the installation of more efficient heating and cooling technology. "Investing in enegy efficiency is a practical, commonsense strategy to create jobs, save on energy costs and do our part to fight climate change," Welch said. The loan would be paid back directly to the local government using the existing property tax assessment and collections process, and annual repayments may not exceed annual savings afforded by the efficiency upgrades. Congressman Welch, now on the House energy committee, which means the bill is well positioned to gain additional support and momentum. NEFI staff has reviewed the measure and the Government Affairs Committee is set to discuss support in a conference call in early April.

Read Bill Info Here.

Read the press release here.

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CAP AND TRADE BILL LIKELY TO REQUIRE 60 SENATE VOTES THIS YEAR
House and Senate budget committees have cleared budget resolutions for floor consideration that do not assume revenue from a cap & trade program. Because of this, it is likely that cap & trade legislation will require a 60-vote majority to overcome a filibuster when the Senate eventually considers climate change legislation as planned later this year, making its passage more difficult. If the program had been included in the budget resolution it would have required a simple majority vote. We’re not “out of the woods” yet, however. Cap and trade resolution is still expected to be introduced this spring for floor debate sometime later this year. Obama said that he had hoped the budget would include energy, more specifically his cap & trade proposal, during a press conference Wednesday night. More on climate change legislation will be reported in an upcoming issue of NEFI Climate Change Policy Watch (see below article).

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NEFI AND ALLIES TO CONGRESS: SUPPORT BILL TO STOP EXCESSIVE SPECULATION!!!
NEFI coordinated with Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition allies in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives that was sent on Monday, March 23rd. In the letter, the coalition members called for support for a tough new bill introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson. The Peterson bill, called the “Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act” would fully close the “Enron Loophole” by requiring significant over-the-counter transactions to clear through an exchange and make them subject to speculation limits; close the “Swaps Loophole” by helping to make sure that only bona-fide physical hedgers are given regulatory exemptions; and closes the “Foreign Markets Loophole.” It also requires new studies into OTC markets and adds 200 full-time employees to the futures regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The letter writes, “it is clear that non-traditional speculators played a significant role in the swift and volatile commodity price run-up through last summer, and also in the subsequent price collapse.” It goes on to say that financial players “served to exaggerate price movements in energy, agricultural and other markets.” NEFI staff was working late several evenings to help rally coalition members to sign onto the letter. Read a copy of the letter.

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PMAA: WASHINGTON STATE MARKETER TESTIFIES ON MARKET TRANSPARENCY
PMAA Vice Chairman Gerry Ramm of Inland Oil Company in Ephrata, WA, testified before Congress regarding the impact of excessive speculation in the energy commodity markets on petroleum and heating oil marketers. Gerry testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Energy on proposed draft legislation titled, “Energy Markets Transparency Act of 2009,” which aims to enhance transparency to energy futures markets by expanding data collection authority of the EIA and by creating a new Presidents Working Group on Energy Markets that would study energy pricing and make recommendations to Congress on how best to prevent rampant speculation.

Gerry urged Congress to immediately pass commodity futures market reform legislation in order to prevent another excessively leverage speculative bubble like marketers and consumers had to endure for most of last year. In Gerry’s oral remarks to the Subcommittee, he said that PMAA supported the intent of the Subcommittee’s legislation, to bring transparency to help eliminate excess speculation in the energy futures markets. However, he argued if reporting is required on the amount of commercially held oil that is held, there should be a minimum threshold for reporting, and that heating oil contracts should not be included in the reporting requirements. Finally, Ramm reminded the committee that commodity markets were not designed as an investment class--they were set up for price discovery, and for physical hedgers to manage risk by entering into a futures contract to lock in a price for future delivery. View full details and a video webcast.

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NEFI LAUNCHES NEW CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY E-NEWS ALERTS
Locally and around the country, policymakers, from Congressman to bureaucrats (and everything in between), climate change (also known as “global warming”) is a hot topic of discussion. As an issue, it has been hotly debated for decades, and it seems that the public is now embracing the science behind the theory that the Earth is warming due in large part to human activity. According to a recent Gallup Poll (March 11, 2009), 60 percent of Americans are at least “fairly” concerned about global warming, and that same amount believe that it will pose a serious threat to their way of life within their lifetime. Government officials are responding with a flurry of policy proposals and “solutions” to help minimize the impact of Global Warming and its effects, as well as how to deal with that.

What all the solutions have in common--they all target carbon and other gases (known as “greenhouse gases”) that scientists believe are warming the earth, and the sectors of the economy most responsible for their emission. Some solutions are more progressive than others and all of them have the potential for significant economic consequences for fuel dealers, their consumers and the economy at-large. NEFI wants to keep members as informed as possible, and so it is launching a new email alert, the “NEFI Climate Change Policy Watch.” We aim to bring you up-to–the minute developments and breaking news on climate change policy, legislation and regulation, whether they are regional efforts or in our nation’s capital. NEON will link to all issues of the CCPW released in the past week so as to avoid reprinting stories already reported on in that newsletter.

Read the first issue (March 26, 2009).

in this issue:
• EPA Establishes Authority to Limit Greenhouse gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels
• NEFI Forms Climate Change Policy Task Force