Pennsylvania's legislators are in "special session" on energy, but you'd hardly know it.
It's not as if they're locked in a room until they come to an agreement. It's not as if energy bills take precedence in debate. Legislators go about their normal business and drop the gavel on energy a few hours a day.
With this nonchalant approach, this "special session" could be as helpful to energy conservation as driving a Hummer cross-country.
A focused session, however, could transform the state's economy, create jobs, save consumers money, protect the environment, and contribute to national security. Legislators should stop stalling and get this job done.
Gov. Rendell called the session after talks broke down in July over his proposed $850 million Energy Independence Strategy. It would invest in clean-energy projects, such as biofuel plants, and solar and advanced coal technologies; help residents cut energy costs through solar-panel installation, appliance rebates, and high-tech electric meters; and direct utilities to use conservation measures to meet increasing demand for electricity.
Rendell would finance the bonds through a "systems benefit charge" on electrical users, costing residential users about $5 a year. Large customers would be capped at $10,000 a year. Seventeen other states, including New Jersey, have such fees, many of them higher.
Legislators, by and large, agree on the governor's goals. The tension is over the size of the plan, how to pay for it, and who gets the bounty. House Republicans have countered with a $250 million proposal. A Senate plan is expected this week.
It's the Goldilocks syndrome: Rendell's plan is too big; the House plan too small. Together, they must agree on "just right" - and soon.
Other states are zooming ahead of Pennsylvania in clean energy investment, Rendell said in a joint legislative session last Monday. California is investing $3 billion in solar; Iowa, $1.3 billion, mostly in biofuels; Wyoming, $400 million, and Rhode Island, $300 million, in alternative energy. Pennsylvania risks losing the edge gained in 2004, when the legislature set alternative fuel investment goals for electricity.
Rendell seeks a similar investment jumpstart for clean transportation fuels through a biofuels initiative, which the House passed last spring. It's a good idea, but the present bill includes the potential for coal-to-liquid-fuel, an environmental loser. No incentives should go to fuels whose global-warming pollution exceeds conventional fuels.
Legislators also should avoid tempting small ideas that accomplish little - such as twice-yearly tax holidays on appliance purchases. They should hone in on Rendell's willingness to compromise on the big stuff.
He's right that "what we do in this special session, the choices we make, will define us as a commonwealth for years to come."