| This vote was on final passage of the Senate energy bill (S. 517), which was full of harmful provisions, including: the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), the federal government's most important mechanism to protect electricity consumers; weak fuel economy standards backed by the auto industry; $1.3 billion in direct subsidies for nuclear power companies; reauthorization of the nuclear industry's taxpayer-backed insurance subsidy scheme; $1.8 billion in subsidies for the coal industry; more than $2 billion to promote oil and gas production; and virtually no support for technology to advance clean energy. Passed 88 Yea to 11 Nay. |