Latest news with #EnergyPolicyAct
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
How Former Senator Johnston Changed Energy Policy In The U.S.
Senator J Bennett Johnston of Louisiana pictured in Washington, March 19th 1979. (Photo by ... More UPI/) Anyone wondering about a career as a U.S. senator might want to study the life and times of Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), who died March 25 at the age of 92. To me, he embodied the best of the Senate that was. Johnston was both a patriotic American and a loyalist to the state that sent him to Congress. He also was bipartisan, curious and totally on top of his subject. His legislative milestones endure, from natural gas and oil deregulation to the electricity and environmental structure of today. Johnston was an exemplar of the art of the Senate, when it was correctly known as the world's greatest deliberative body. He was chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and, as such, was a major player in the shaping of energy and environmental policy. He was a Democrat who worked across the aisle. Oddly, his most contentious relationship might have been that with President Jimmy Carter. They clashed over a water project on the Red River in Louisiana: Carter thought it was too expensive, but Johnston argued that it was needed. He admired President Bill Clinton for his brilliance. In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident, he worked with President Ronald Reagan to establish the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations to save nuclear power from those who wanted to eliminate it. Like other distinguished chairmen, Johnston recognized two fealties: to his state and to the nation. I watched Johnston all his years as Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman, and I came to revere and admire him as a great gentleman, a great patriot and a great senator. Johnston was neither flashy nor loud, but he was effective. The New York Times said of him that he was a notable exception, compared with the noisy and controversial political heritage of Louisiana, which included such notables as Huey and Earl Long and Edwin Edwards. Johnston was instead 'a quiet intellectual with finely honed political judgments who grasped the technical intricacies of energy exploration and production and could also lucidly discuss astrophysics, subatomic particles and tennis serves.' Thomas Kuhn, a former longtime president of the Edison Electric Institute, said Johnston had a lasting impact on environmental and energy policy during his 24 years in Congress with the Clean Air Act of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. When the Energy Policy Act was working its way through Congress, I saw Johnston at work up close. He invited me, as the founder and publisher of The Energy Daily, and Paul Gigot, then a Washington columnist for The Wall Street Journal and later its editorial page editor, to lunch in a small private dining room in the Senate. Johnston was low-key yet forceful in seeking our support for the bill. I asked him, 'Who is carrying your water on this one?' He responded in an endearing and lonesome way, 'I'm afraid I am.' And carry it he did until it became law. On another occasion, when President George H.W. Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court was bogged down with Anita Hill's allegations of impropriety by the nominee, Johnston told me, 'I'm going to vote for him. I think when he looks in the mirror in the morning, he will see a black face and he will do the right things.' Maybe not Johnston's best call. While Kuhn may have met Johnston as a lobbyist, they became close friends and tennis partners. Kuhn told me Johnston was so passionate about tennis that he had a court built atop the Senate Dirksen Office Building. Among others, he would play tennis there with fellow Louisiana Sen. John Breaux. Johnston was also passionate about Tabasco sauce and carried a bottle with him at all times. Kuhn remembered this about his friend, 'He was well-liked by everyone and had a great sense of humor. And he got things done on a bipartisan basis — a skill that is sorely missed in today's Washington.'
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Memories Of Johnston: A Great Senator, When Senate Was Great
Senator J Bennett Johnston of Louisiana pictured in Washington, March 19th 1979. (Photo by ... More UPI/) Anyone wondering about a career as a U.S. senator might want to study the life and times of Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), who died March 25 at the age of 92. To me, he embodied the best of the Senate that was. Johnston was both a patriotic American and a loyalist to the state that sent him to Congress. He also was bipartisan, curious and totally on top of his subject. His legislative milestones endure, from natural gas and oil deregulation to the electricity and environmental structure of today. Johnston was an exemplar of the art of the Senate, when it was correctly known as the world's greatest deliberative body. He was chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and, as such, was a major player in the shaping of energy and environmental policy. He was a Democrat who worked across the aisle. Oddly, his most contentious relationship might have been that with President Jimmy Carter. They clashed over a water project on the Red River in Louisiana: Carter thought it was too expensive, but Johnston argued that it was needed. He admired President Bill Clinton for his brilliance. In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident, he worked with President Ronald Reagan to establish the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations to save nuclear power from those who wanted to eliminate it. Like other distinguished chairmen, Johnston recognized two fealties: to his state and to the nation. I watched Johnston all his years as Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman, and I came to revere and admire him as a great gentleman, a great patriot and a great senator. Johnston was neither flashy nor loud, but he was effective. The New York Times said of him that he was a notable exception, compared with the noisy and controversial political heritage of Louisiana, which included such notables as Huey and Earl Long and Edwin Edwards. Johnston was instead 'a quiet intellectual with finely honed political judgments who grasped the technical intricacies of energy exploration and production and could also lucidly discuss astrophysics, subatomic particles and tennis serves.' Thomas Kuhn, a former longtime president of the Edison Electric Institute, said Johnston had a lasting impact on environmental and energy policy during his 24 years in Congress with the Clean Air Act of 1990 and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. When the Energy Policy Act was working its way through Congress, I saw Johnston at work up close. He invited me, as the founder and publisher of The Energy Daily, and Paul Gigot, then a Washington columnist for The Wall Street Journal and later its editorial page editor, to lunch in a small private dining room in the Senate. Johnston was low-key yet forceful in seeking our support for the bill. I asked him, 'Who is carrying your water on this one?' He responded in an endearing and lonesome way, 'I'm afraid I am.' And carry it he did until it became law. On another occasion, when President George H.W. Bush's nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court was bogged down with Anita Hill's allegations of impropriety by the nominee, Johnston told me, 'I'm going to vote for him. I think when he looks in the mirror in the morning, he will see a black face and he will do the right things.' Maybe not Johnston's best call. While Kuhn may have met Johnston as a lobbyist, they became close friends and tennis partners. Kuhn told me Johnston was so passionate about tennis that he had a court built atop the Senate Dirksen Office Building. Among others, he would play tennis there with fellow Louisiana Sen. John Breaux. Johnston was also passionate about Tabasco sauce and carried a bottle with him at all times. Kuhn remembered this about his friend, 'He was well-liked by everyone and had a great sense of humor. And he got things done on a bipartisan basis — a skill that is sorely missed in today's Washington.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Daylight Saving Time 2025: Why Do We 'Spring Forward' And Change The Clocks?
This weekend is "spring forward," the time every year when most people in the U.S. set their clocks one hour later as daylight saving time begins. It's a rule that to many seems arbitrary and unnecessary, and research shows it can have negative impacts on our sleep cycles and overall health. So why do we do it? Here's a look at the history behind daylight saving time in the U.S. This year, that will be at 2 a.m. on March 9, which is this Sunday. It's one of two times each year that the time changes. The exact days are set by federal law and have shifted over the years. The current dates went into effect in 2007 as part of the Energy Policy Act passed when George W. Bush was president. DST was originally intended to reduce energy costs in times of war. It was first signed into law in the U.S. during World War I on March 1, 1918, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The law was repealed after the war's end and put in place again during the Second World War. That led to it being known as "war" time. There were no set rules on time across the nation from the end of WWII through 1965. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 put DST into federal law and established official time zones, ending confusion over what time it was in different parts of the country. It was thought that in nice summer weather – when days are already longer – people would spend more time outside and less time using electricity indoors in the evening. But whether there's any real benefit is a subject of deep debate. A 2008 study by the U.S. Energy Department, after the DST "season" was extended by four weeks under President Bush, found that electricity savings during the additional weeks was about 0.5% per day, or 0.03% of total electricity use for the entire year. Critics say any savings are minuscule and are driven by larger economic motivations, including lobbying by retail businesses, who contend that DST leads to more people out shopping and doing other activities in the evening. There's also debate over where the idea of DST came from in the first place. Some give a nod to Benjamin Franklin, but many historians credit a New Zealand man who first proposed DST in an 1895 paper. Germany was the first country to implement it, in 1916 during World War I. Scientists have linked changing time twice a year to several health and safety issues. A study in 2016, for example, found that the rate of strokes is 8% higher in the first two days after either time change. A 2020 study connected the springtime change to a 6% rise in traffic accidents. And a 2017 study found the fall time change resulted in an 11% increase in symptoms of depression reported at hospitals. Doctors think the reason for these impacts is due to a lack of sunlight, as well as disruptions to circadian rhythms. Some experts think it would be better to stick with DST year-round, while others think standard time all the time would be best. A survey taken in 2022 by YouGovAmerica showed that 59% of people in the U.S. supported year-round DST. Nineteen percent were against it, while 22% were undecided. A move to temporarily make DST permanent for two years amid a nationwide gas shortage In 1974 was reversed after just a few months due to public outcry that included concern over kids going to school in the dark and an increase in traffic crashes. reporter Jan Childs covers breaking news and features related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.
