NEWS OF THE W EEK
COU RTESY OF PETE DOM I NI C I
SENATORS FIGHT OVER ENERGY BILL TAX BREAKS: Shift in incentives
from oil and gas to renewable energy garners opposition
COU RTESY OF HA R RY R EI D
Domenici
Reid
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Y ONE VOTE, Senate Democratic Party leaders
on Dec. 13 failed to overcome objections to tax provisions in a sweeping energy bill, passed only a week earlier by the House. The 59–40 procedural floor vote blocked the bill from coming to the Senate floor because 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and allow for a vote on the bill itself. Immediately after the vote, however, Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) agreed to strike the tax provisions and bring the bill back to the floor, possibly later that day. As C&EN went to press, it was unclear whether they would be successful. The energy bill’s failure in the Senate was the second in a week. Earlier opposition was due to the tax provisions and a section requiring utilities to generate 15% of
MIDDLE GROUND INTERNATIONAL: Conference
uses science to build bridges in the Middle East
L
AST WEEK, 90 scientists from 12 Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian Authority and six Nobel Laureates spent four days on the neutral ground of Istanbul, Turkey, discussing regional research and environmental issues. In addition to enabling open discussions among scientists who might not ordinarily be able to do so, the biannual meeting yielded a communiqué urging immediate attention to the drinking water crisis in the Gaza Strip. “Far away from Middle Eastern politics, you will find the people who can live together, eat together, and discuss science together,” says Yousef Abu-Mayla, director of the water research center at Al-Azhar University, in the Gaza Strip. “At this conference I can say, ‘Here is my work, what do you think,’ regardless of the citizenship.” The conference is the third in a series of meetings whose aim is to engender goodwill and collaboraSARAH EVERTS/C&E N
Israeli scientists David Cahen (left) and Lia Addadi (center) discuss common interests with Nasrin Moazami (right) from Iran.
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their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The electricity standards were jettisoned in hopes of gaining support, but the tax provisions remained. The $21 billion multiyear tax package was a key part of the bill, stressed Reid, who noted that some $13 billion in tax breaks would be taken from oil and gas companies and shifted to support renewable energy and carbon sequestration projects. But the tax package was opposed by many Senate Republicans, a handful of oil-state Democrats, and the White House, which promised a veto. Before the vote, Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) urged that the tax provisions be stripped from the bill. “These are bad taxes for those who want this energy bill to pass,” he said. McConnell called them a “millstone” that would block the entire bill. But Reid remained firm: “Our bill eliminates these tax breaks for big oil—an industry raking in record profits of half a trillion dollars in the last six years—so we can invest more in clean energy.” Domenici and McConnell joined Reid in applauding the rest of the bill, however, particularly provisions increasing vehicle fuel-efficiency standards to 35 mpg by 2020, the first jump in 32 years. And they supported a requirement that 36 billion gal of biofuels be produced by 2022.—JEFF JOHNSON
tion among Middle East scientists that will hopefully filter back to the politicians, says organizer Zafra Lerman, an Israeli-born chemist at Columbia College Chicago. The previous two meetings, in 2003 and 2005, were held in Malta, and this provenance has left its stamp in the conference’s nickname, “Malta III,” even though this year’s event was held in Turkey. The official title was “Frontiers of Chemical Sciences III: Research & Education in the Middle East.” For the first time in the conference series, Iraqi scientists joined delegates from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. “The conference gives the possibility of scientists from the Middle East to meet with each other while listening to Nobel Laureate lectures,” says Miriam Waldman, an environmental policy consultant and former official in the Israeli Ministry of Science. “In addition, there are scientific workshops that are dedicated to problems of the region.” In fact, Abu-Mayla reported measurements indicating that drinking water in several Gaza Strip communities is contaminated with high levels of lead, nitrate, and chloride. His data inspired the creation of a communiqué aimed at international organizations and governments. “There are some concerns that transcend politics,” reads the communiqué. “We urge that the interested governments and agencies ignore their current disagreements and by drawing on scientific expertise, urgently address the issue of water in the Gaza Strip.”— SARAH EVERTS
D EC E M BE R 17, 20 07
