The House approved legislation Wednesday that supporters said will make it easier for oil companies to build or expand refineries, although opponents said it could lead to more pollution and less local involvement in the siting of refineries. The bill's sponsors argued that refinery constraints have added to the tight gasoline market that has seen prices at the pump soar to more than $3 a gallon across most of the country. But they acknowledged the measure is not intended to address this summer's high gas prices.Earlier in the day at a House hearing, the head of the Energy Department's statistical agencies said he expects crude oil prices - which have been hovering above $70 a barrel - to remain high into next year. "This is an industry straining to meet the demand facing it," Guy Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, told a House Government Reform subcommittee hearing. He said limited refining capacity has added to the tight market.
Separately, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, told a Senate hearing Wednesday that while the U.S. economy has been able to absorb the surge in energy costs up until now, some impacts are beginning to be felt on economic growth. The House passed the refinery legislation by a vote of 238-179. But its prospects in the Senate are uncertain. Last year a similar bill failed to get out of committee amid solid opposition by Democrats and moderate Republicans.