The Nov. 2 midterm elections, branded as the largest party turnover in 70 years, will likely result in a change of course for legislators on several key issues facing the fertilizer and agri-chemical industries, including energy policy and chemical facility security regulations.
The election saw Republicans gain control of the House, while Democrats held a slim majority in the Senate. As a result, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will take over the Speaker of the House post from Democrat Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who survived a bitter and close race with Republican challenger Sharron Angle, pledged to work with the Republican-controlled House to “get things done.”
“There is not much to say that hasn’t already been said in all the post-election commentary,” said Kathy Mathers, vice president of public affairs for The Fertilizer Institute (TFI). Mathers told Green Markets there “certainly will be many new faces in Congress,” noting that roughly 50 percent of the Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee did not win re-election.
Richard Gupton, vice president of legislative policy and counsel for the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), said the election results overall are a “net positive” for the industry. “There were some major policy proposals over the last 21 months that were not helpful for the industry,” Gupton said, referring to the push for cap-and-trade provisions in energy policy, and the inclusion of inherently safer technologies (IST) and citizen suits provisions in chemical facility security legislation.
In the wake of Tuesday’s election results, President Obama signaled on Nov. 3 that he was prepared to “look for other means” besides cap and trade to reduce carbon emissions from manufacturing and power plants, vehicles, and other sources. “Cap and trade was just one way of skinning the cat,” he said.
Gupton said HR. 2868, the contentious House bill that included IST language and citizen suits provisions in its reauthorization of Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), is now “basically DOA.” He said he expects instead a more straightforward reauthorization of existing CFATS regulations, something that ARA and other chemical industry trade groups have pushed for.
Like Mathers, Gupton observed that 14 Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee did not win re-election, so “there will be a major infusion of new people on that committee, and they will be writing the new Farm Bill.”
Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), head of the House Agriculture Committee and ARA’s 2009 Legislator of the Year, lost his bid for re-election, Gupton noted. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) will likely replace Peterson as head of that committee, a leadership change that ethanol producers were celebrating last week.
Gupton said the industry lost another ally in the defeat of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow is next in line to take over that position. In addition, Gupton said at least 22 of the 47 Democrat members of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition many of whom are from farm states came up short in their re-election bids on Tuesday.
Gupton said ARA was “not shedding too many tears” over the surprise defeat of Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), who was chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and an opponent of the industry-supported Hours of Service (HOS) exemption. Gupton said Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) will take over as chair of that committee, which he described as a “positive sign.”
As for TFI, Mathers said the organization is “laser focused” on the possibility of several key issues being brought up in the upcoming lame duck session of Congress. One of these is the Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystems Restoration Act (S. 1816), which TFI says would
fundamentally change aspects of the Clean Water Act and set water policy precedents that would impact watersheds throughout the U.S. (GM Nov. 1, p. 12).
Gupton agreed that “there are things to be vigilant about,” but said he would be “shocked” if legislators tried to push S. 1816 through during the lame duck session, especially given the decisive midterm election results and the contentious nature of the bill.