Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) yesterday applauded the Bushadministration move to create a Cabinet-level task force to addressa national energy policy, but he said the effort would “barelyscratch the surface” of the real energy issues facing the nation atthis time.

“It’s a start, but it cannot be the end,” the ranking Democraton the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said in aspeech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s national energy summit inWashington, DC Tuesday. “Making progress on such a complicatedtopic will require a sustained effort over a longer period of timethan the two months” that the administration has given to VicePresident Dick Cheney, who heads up the task force.

Bingaman was critical of the administration’s decision not toinclude any Democrats on the task force. “…..[I]f the president’senergy policy exercise is to have any long-term effectiveness, itneeds to be bipartisan,” he said. “So far, Democrats have beenexcluded from [the] administration’s consultations.”

Bingaman plans to introduce his own comprehensive energy billthis Thursday. He said his bill will include a mix of measuresaimed at increasing supply and managing demand. He noted thatCommittee Chairman Frank Murkowski (R-AK) “sat down with me andwent through” the Republican energy bill before it was unveiled. “Iplan to do the same with him before we introduce ours.”

In addition, he and Murkowski “will cooperate on a set ofhearings to explore major issues in energy policy while we waitforthe administration to send us the results of the Cheney study,”Bingaman said. The first such hearing is scheduled for today.

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