Hard Going for Carter's Plan

No cheerleaders in the Senate

After sailing through the House last month largely intact, President Carter's energy program ran into rough weather in the past two weeks, during the early stages of its passage through the Senate. On the floor and in the opening committee skirmishes of a battle that is likely to drag on through the fall, the Senate reflected deep disagreement with parts of the plan. Unlike the House, the Senate is tackling the omnibus bill piecemeal; a few of the proposed changes strengthen the program but most weaken it.

In general the bill that is coming out of the Senate would mean higher fuel prices for consumers, a possible end to big gas-drinking cars and some gains for environmentalists. Among the provisions of the Administration program facing changes:

The Wellhead Tax on Oil It is designed to cut fuel consumption by lifting the price of U.S.-produced crude by 1980 to the higher world level charged by OPEC. The White House wants to rebate the proceeds of the tax to consumers. The House agreed. But last week Louisiana Democrat Russell Long, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said his committee "will not vote these big taxes" unless the receipts go not to consumers but for use in developing new sources of energy such as gas from coal. If the tax is passed without a rebate, consumer bills for fuel and petroleum-related products would be increased $12 billion annually by 1981.

Utility Rate Reform Carter wants the Government empowered to order utilities to change their pricing policies. The aim: to eliminate the practice of offering cheaper rates to major business users of power and make utilities charge less for "juice" consumed at night and during other off-periods. The Senate Energy Committee last week said no; it sees the proposal as an invasion of states' rights.

Coal Conversion The House-passed measure would force most utilities and in dustries to burn coal, in plentiful supply, instead of oil or natural gas. The full Senate passed a milder version two weeks ago. It would let utilities keep burning oil but ban them from using natural gas piped across state lines. The measure also provides automatic exemptions for plants that could not meet present standards for air quality if they converted to coal.

The Gas-Guzzler Tax Carter proposed slapping penalty taxes on people who buy big, energy-inefficient cars starting next year. The Senate voted last week to delay the tax to 1980--but to make it practically confiscatory. Its bill would place a stunning $10,000 tax in 1980 on each new car that got less than 16 m.p.g., which would have the same effect as banning production outright.

Another major proposal faces a Senate floor vote this week, with the outcome in great doubt. The White House wants to continue price controls on natural gas that is produced in one state and sold in another, but let the price rise to $1.75 per 1,000 cu. ft. from a top of $1.47 now. It would also extend controls to gas produced and sold in the same state. The House agreed, but there is a strong move in the Senate to take off all controls and let the price of natural gas rise to any level the market would stand.

For all that, Administration officials still believe that they will wind up with a workable program after conference committees resolve differences between the House and Senate versions. Some changes in the bill by the Senate were all but inevitable. For one thing, oil, gas, utility and other lobbyists who lost in the House are making a maximum effort to protect their interests. Also, the Administration lacks a forceful Senate champion who could steer the program through the upper chamber as Speaker Tip O'Neill did in the House. Russell Long, Majority Leader Robert Byrd and other powerful Senators have been critical of much of Carter's plan. Says one Senate staffer: "The energy program had a cheerleader in the House. It does not in the Senate."

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