The summer countdown is almost over, as Congress prepares to resume session this Monday. During the August recess, many Republicans stayed in Washington to stage untelevised protests on the House floor, demanding that Democrats return to discuss offshore drilling and a workable energy plan.

Now that the time has finally come to resume bipartisan debate, Democrats are beginning to get the spin rooms up and running.

"American families and businesses are demanding a comprehensive energy policy that increases our domestic supply and encourages investment in clean, renewable energy," says one Pelosi press release. "But time and again, Congressional Republicans have voted against our efforts to expand domestic drilling, to release oil from the nation's stockpile to bring down the price at the pump, to invest in clean energy alternatives, and to protect consumers from price exploitation."

Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), Chairman of the House Republican Conference, thinks otherwise.

"Only House Republicans are offering the American people an 'all of the above' energy policy that creates new American-made energy, unleashing the potential of new technologies, and further fostering conservation efforts."

An early bird look at the Democrats' energy plan reveals the following goals:

• Reduce the price at the pump within 10 days, by releasing a small portion of the oil from the 700 million barrel national stockpile;
• Expand drilling in the Alaska oil reserve already designated for drilling;
• Require Big Oil to pay the billions of dollars they owe in royalties to invest in clean energy resources;
• Create a federal Renewable Electricity Standard;
• Cut mass transit costs for commuters;
• Increase the use of natural gas;
• Combat undue and excessive speculation that plays a role in driving up the cost of oil; and
• Consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, with appropriate safeguards, and without taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil.

And by the Dem's accounts, the minority party has voted against the very solutions they tout:

1.    No to renewable energy
2.    No to the first new vehicle efficiency standards in 32 years-saving $1,000 in fuel costs per car per year
3.    No to reducing transit fares for commuter rail and buses
4.    No to recouping royalties the oil companies failed to pay to taxpayers
5.    No to repealing unnecessary subsidies for the top five oil companies, raking in record profits
6.    No to expanded drilling in Alaska's Energy Reserve
7.    No to requiring oil companies to drill on 68 million acres they already control nationwide
8.    No to lowering gas prices immediately by releasing a small portion of the government oil stockpile
9.    No to curbing excessive speculation in the energy futures markets

Rep. Putnam replied to this assertion: "clearly, Denver's rarefied air has gone straight to Democrat leaders' heads for thinking that their 'new' energy plan is anything more than a rehash of the broken promises and failed policies of the past."
 
"Maybe one of the reasons for this failure of leadership is because, as we have learned in recent days, Speaker Pelosi does not even know that natural gas is a fossil fuel, or that it will require increased exploration of American natural gas to make use of it," Putnam continued. 

Welcome to House politics!

It's still unclear what the first item on Monday's agenda will be. However, one thing's certain: if Democrats fail to bring energy to the table before the September 26 target adjournment, none of us may ever hear the end of it.

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