WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic leaders failed to get the votes needed Friday to proceed with quick consideration of a House-passed energy bill and began searching for a compromise that could overcome a Republican filibuster, reported the Associated Press.
The bill, passed by the House on Thursday has as its centerpiece a requirement to increase automobile fuel economy by 40%, the first such increase by Congress in more than three decades. It also would require a sevenfold increase in the use of ethanol as a motor fuel to 36 billion gallons a year by 2020.[image-nocss]
Senators by a 53-42 vote fell short of moving ahead with the legislation passed by the House on Thursday; 60 votes were needed to overcome GOP objections.
"I would hope this sends a signal," said Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee after the vote.
In a statement, Domenici said, "The outcome of today's cloture vote is the right one for the Senate as an institution, for our nation's energy policy, and for consumers. I'm very pleased that my fellow Senators recognized that the process by which this bill was drafted was fundamentally unfair.
"The Speaker of the House violated an agreement made regarding the content of the energy bill. In doing so, she squandered a perfect opportunity to pass strong CAFE (fuel economy) provisions and diversify our fuel supply. By including a costly, one-size-fits-all Renewable Portfolio Standard, and a massive, $21 billion tax increase on domestic oil and gas production, the House turned what could have been the bipartisan legislation that the President requested in his State of the Union address into a partisan bill that would dramatically increase energy prices for consumers.
"Now that we've rejected this one-sided bill, I hope that the Senate can now go back to the agreement that we originally reached with the House. Much of the hard work has already been done. An energy bill that contains a CAFE compromise, a strong Renewable Fuels Standard, and energy efficiency improvements is the right approach, and I'm willing to go back to work on such a bill right away."
Senate Republicans have made clear they are strongly opposed to a $21 billion tax package in the House-passed bill, including $13.5 billion in oil industry taxes, as well as a requirement for electric utilities to generate 15% of their power by renewable energy such as wind and solar. They are the "twin millstones" that will keep the legislation from passing the Senate, declared Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said attempts would be made to try to work out a compromise on the two contentious issues that he plans to return to the energy legislation next week.
"We can regroup here over the weekend and decide what to bring up as a variation," Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D., N.M.) told reporters after the vote, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) flew in from the presidential campaign trail to join fellow Democrats in support of an energy policy that is becoming a campaign issue. Even with their support, Democrats couldn't break the united front presented by Republicans, who complained that the bill was negotiated in secret among a handful of Democrats.
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