Two lawmakers on Thursday told a group of Native American Indians not to expect broad-based energy legislation to emerge from Congress this year, confirming what many people already suspected.

“It’s unlikely that we’re going to have an energy bill” this session, with only 15 days remaining before Congress adjourns, said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) at a conference on Indian energy sponsored by The Council of Energy Resource Tribes and the Chicago-based law firm of Gardner Carton & Douglas LLP in Washington, DC. Campbell, who has served in the Senate for 22 years, is retiring at the end of the year.

“I think the energy bill is going to be very difficult to pass,” agreed Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO). The bill has failed because of a “flawed process,” too many “backroom deals” and “sweetheart deals,” he said.

The chances of passage are “pretty slim” before adjournment. But “we got to come back and get it right in the next Congress,” Udall noted.

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