The Senate has begun debating a comprehensive, and extremely controversial, energy bill. The House passed its own energy bill by a wide margin in August, but the Senate leadership has been slow to produce its own version. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) has set aside two weeks for debate, but has stated that he will not allow the bill (S. 517) to languish. Members have prepared hundreds of amendments to the bill, while only a few will be considered. However, they intend to affect the course of the debate by saving the most controversial amendments for last, which could scuttle Sen. Daschle’s plans to move the bill quickly.

As an alternative, Senate Republicans may opt to approve the bill, although they oppose much of it, in order to move the legislation to conference. They believe that the have the votes to prevail in conference on the positions that are most important to them. The most controversial issues surround proposals to open portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil exploration, and provisions concerning fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards.

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