Washington (Platts)--20Jun2007
The broad energy bill the US Senate has been debating since June 11 appeared to be in trouble Wednesday, after senior Democrats accused Republicans of trying to derail the legislation by blocking the consideration of several controversial amendments. Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, who is managing the bill on the floor for the Democrats, accused Republicans of trying to scotch any significant debate on the measure ahead of an expected cloture vote on Thursday. Some 60 senators must agree to cut off debate on the bill and that is unlikely to occur if lawmakers do not have a chance to debate and vote on the most controversial aspects of the legislation. "I know that the time is running out toward the vote on cloture," Bingaman said. "We are being blocked by others." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat-Nevada, appeared on the floor and asked Bingaman who was holding up the legislation. But Bingaman declined to name names. Reid then asked if Bingaman had proposed to raise threshold for approving amendments to 60 votes, rather than the normal 51. But Bingaman said Republicans had rejected that offer as well. "The objection is to any consideration of the amendments, regardless of what the threshold [for passage] might be," Bingaman said. Aides to Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, who is managing the bill on the floor for the Republicans, did not immediately respond to questions about the party's strategy on the legislation. Reid and Bingaman did not specify which amendments the Republicans were allegedly blocking. But one may have to do with raising fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks, which is one of the most controversial aspects of the underlying bill that has not been voted on yet. The underlying energy bill also seeks, among other things, to promote technologies to sequester carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and impose stiffer penalties for "price gouging" at the gasoline pump. --Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com
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