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the issue was of such high importance it had to be cleared with the 



President. Hechler asked for an opportunity to examine the as-yet- 

 unannounced administration position through extensive subcommit- 

 tee hearings, while McCormack contended that a decision could be 

 arrived at within a week of concentrated hearings after the administra- 

 tion forwarded its plan. The general sentiment favored McCormack's 

 position. The issue was complicated by President Ford's announce- 

 ment, on September 22, of support for a 10-year, $100 billion Energy 

 Independence Authority (originally proposed by Vice President Nel- 

 son A. Rockefeller.) The relationship between the EIA and other 

 incentives proposed by the Task Force was not clearly defined. 



On September 25, Fri returned to express the administration's 

 support for two shale oil plants, one syncrude plant, two high-Btu and 

 three low- and medium-Btu and boiler fuel plants to produce syn- 

 thetic oil, synthetic gas, and electric utility and industrial fuels. He 

 urged deletion of the authority to authorize loan guarantees for renew- 

 able resources. Fri outlined a preliminary goal of 350,000 barrels of 

 oil a day rather than an ambitious one million barrels projected by the 

 President in January. 



Teague was overgenerous in allowing both subcommittees to 

 proceed with a full examination of both the loan guarantee (section 

 103) and oil shale (section 102) parts of the legislation. The McCor- 

 mack subcommittee held five hearings during October on the applica- 

 bility of loan guarantees to solar, geothermal, energy conservation, 

 waste recycling, and capital formation. The Hechler subcommittee 

 heard 75 witnesses in Washington, D.C., and a three-day field trip 

 which took them to the eastern and western slopes in Colorado to 

 examine potential oil shale operations and social and economic impacts 

 on boomtowm communities. Thornton and Wirth presided over most 

 of the hearings. Hechler, Wirth, and Haves (accompanied by Swigert) 

 made the trip to Colorado. 



On October 6, in a surprise move, ERDA Administrator Seamans 

 informed Teague that the administration had withdrawn its objection 

 to use of loan guarantees for renewable sources of energy — solar, wind, 

 ocean thermal gradient, bioconversion, or geothermal. As time went 

 on, the administration offered additional proposals and amendments 

 to meet needs or objections, including the recommendation of an 

 additional $51 billion for price supports and construction grants. 



SUMMARY OF HECHLER AND MCCORMACK POSITIONS 



i eague convened the full committee on October 30 to give one hour 

 each to Hechler and McCormack to present the results ot their subcom- 

 mittee deliberations. Hechler argued: 



