Despite cries by Republican senators last week for a stripped-down energy bill in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said he remains undeterred in his drive to vote out a “balanced and comprehensive” energy bill during this session.

Bingaman said he is continuing to meet with both Republican and Democratic members of the committee, as well as Bush administration officials, to “develop a consensus that can move us forward” on an energy bill. He made it very clear that he will not cave into “attempts to force through a one-sided energy bill or to short-circuit Senate consideration of these important issues.”

In the wake of the terrorist offensives, nine Republican members of the Senate committee last Monday called on Bingaman to scale back the legislation to focus on those energy measures that enjoy bipartisan support and can be easily passed during this session. The Senate panel should address only those initiatives that “are achievable this year,” the senators said in a letter to Bingaman. These would include proposals that “contribute directly to maintenance of our energy infrastructure, increase domestic sources of production, reduce demand and decrease our reliance on unstable [foreign] sources” to supply the United States’ energy needs.

“While we understand your [Bingaman’s] interest in a comprehensive bill that includes electricity restructuring, climate change and other issues, we must assess whether there is sufficient agreement, beyond some basic provisions, to enable us to proceed at this time without jeopardizing an entire legislative package” being forwarded to President Bush, the lawmakers noted.

The coalition of Republicans said they thought it was “possible to conclude consideration of the remaining issues” presented in the chairman’s outline “within no more than two business meetings, and have a bill ready for floor action immediately.”

Other energy issues that “need to be deferred at this time can be revisited in separate legislation during the next session of Congress,” the senators told Bingaman.”There is very little time remaining this session. It would be irresponsible for us to conclude this session without providing the president with the energy tools that are needed to provide for our long-term national security and economic growth.”

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) — one of the signers of the letter to Bingaman — joined labor unions and business groups last Wednesday in urging the Senate leadership to pass an energy bill before Congress adjourns this year. Craig, who is chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and a member of the Senate Energy Committee, has even called for the Senate to stay in session later, possibly until early November, to push through a bill.

A spokeswoman for Craig said the legislation favored by the senator would address the “immediate” energy needs of the nation — streamlining the permitting process for electric generating capacity and delivery, infrastructure improvements for electric transmission and natural gas pipeline facilities, and enhanced access to domestic energy supplies — as opposed to the more comprehensive bill advocated by Bingaman.

Given that the legislative clock is quickly running out on Capitol Hill, Craig indicated that he might also support Sen. James Inhofe’s (R-OK) proposal to include the House energy bill (H.R.4) as an amendment to the defense authorization spending bill that currently is in front of the Senate.

The Senate Energy Committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Frank Murkowski, delivered a statement on the Senate’s floor last Thursday, urging the nation to “take steps to put our energy house in order” as the U.S. prepares to respond militarily to the assaults on New York City and Washington, DC, and in western Pennsylvania. “We need to conserve fuel and improve energy efficiency. But we also need to produce as much energy as we can domestically, so that we are less dependent on foreign sources,” said the Alaska lawmaker, who also signed the letter to Bingaman.

Murkowski said he was responding to a statement by Canada’s Environment Minister David Anderson, who last week urged the U.S. not to make a “hasty and ill-considered” decision to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling in response to the attacks. But it was clear that he also was lobbying the Senate to drop its opposition to drilling in the Arctic region.

Given the go-ahead by Congress, Murkowski believes ANWR oil and natural gas could be developed quickly. “We built the Pentagon in 18 months, the Empire State Building in a year and built the 1,800-mile Alaska Highway in nine months. Oil [and natural gas] could be flowing out of ANWR quickly if we made a total commitment to make that happen. I believe we could do this in 12 months instead of the five years [that] some predict.”

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