Democrats block US energy bill in fight over Flint aid

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked action on a comprehensive energy bill that had drawn broad bipartisan support after lawmakers failed to agree on including a $600 million amendment to address the crisis over lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan.

“One-hundred thousand people in Flint, Michigan have been poisoned, and Republicans do nothing”, Reid said.

Their water wasn’t safe to drink, so leaders in Lansing say the people of Flint shouldn’t have to pay for it. The package was proposed by Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters through an amendment to the Energy Policy and Modernization Act, which is now under consideration in the Senate.

However, reports emerged yesterday that the bill could yet be scuppered over Democrat attempts to incorporate a $600m aid package for the city of Flint, which has seen unsafe levels of lead enter its drinking water following a controversial decision to switch water supplies from the Detroit municipal network to the more corrosive water in the Flint River.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Sen.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska and a co-sponsor of the bill, proposed making up to $550 million available to Flint.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver called for the removal of all lead lines earlier this week.

Stabenow called the Republican alternative “not adequate”, saying it provided too little in upfront money for Flint. The city of Jackson says the sharpshooters’ efforts will begin Friday in and around Ella Sharp Park in hopes of clearing the area of deer that pose a danger to motorists. The filibuster puts a final vote on the popular energy bill on hold as negotiations continue over how Congress should respond to the lead in Flint’s drinking water, which was triggered after managers switched the city’s drinking water supply and didn’t use affordable additives to prevent that water from breaking down the lead pipes that run to people’s homes. Democrats should remember the Republican reluctance to help Flint the next time a Republican demands aid for his state after a disaster.

Reid argued that Cornyn and others Republican senators – such as Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, two presidential candidates – have pressed for federal aid for disaster relief in their states and that same spirit should apply to the residents of Flint. “It’s not responsible, it’s not reasonable” to insist on adding the aid to the bill, he said, accusing Democrats of holding the bill hostage to “embarrass people”. “We can talk later about whose fault it is….” “I’d like to think they can come to an agreement that not only helps Flint but helps the bill go to conference”.

“We understand that money doesn’t grow on trees”, said Senator Stabenow on the Senate floor yesterday, “and Senator Peters and I were willing, in fact, to support a proposal that was less than half of what we originally requested in order to be able to immediately get some help to the families of Flint”.