Election could push Energy Bill

Last May, the Federal Energy Bill fell two votes short of cloture. Ironically, the two absent United States Senators just lost an election on Tuesday. With a perceived mandate and four more Republican Senators, the Los Angeles Times speculates an energy bill may finally come to be in 2005:

"The new Senate makeup will likely help movement on energy legislation in the 109th Congress," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America, a Washington trade group representing independent oil and natural gas producers.

An energy bill that includes measures to promote energy conservation and production passed the House last year. Its supporters in the Senate fell two votes short of overcoming a filibuster, though, so it never came to a vote in that chamber.

The bill would mandate greater use of ethanol, an alternative fuel made from corn — a measure that Republican John Thune pledged to try to deliver to ethanol-producing South Dakota during his successful campaign to replace Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle. The legislation, a priority for the administration, also includes measures designed to strengthen the nation's electric grid and prevent fuel supply shortages and price spikes, such as those that occurred during California's energy crisis in 2000 and 2001.