White House may agree to breaking up energy bill: DOE official

Washington  (Platts)--26Aug2004

A senior US Department of Energy official Thursday suggested that the Bush
administration may be willing to work with Congress to pass some elements of
the stalled comprehensive energy bill and deal with the more contentious
provisions after the November presidential election. Acting Energy
Undersecretary David Garman said that while the White House still prefers a
single broad energy bill, members of Congress may be determined to pass some
legislation as the session draws to a close. "Lots of things happen at the end
of a congressional session," Garman said "It's good to be agile." 

Both President Bush and a number of legislators could benefit politically from
passing energy provisions that have widespread support. Garman, who was
speaking to reporters after a briefing hosted by King Publishing, said the
administration would work with members of Congress and "see what can be done."

"We still think the comprehensive bill is the way to go," Garman said. "There
is good and bad from the point of view of different folks, and yes, there is
universal agreement on things like [the renewable energy] production tax
credit and efficiency standards, and things like that but it is very difficult
to pass a bill with pieces that everybody likes without more contentious
issues being added to the train." Several members of Congress have also
introduced legislation that contains just the electric reliability portion of
the broader bill.

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