Senate Shows It Can Make a Deal on Energy—Just Not a Big One
- Votes on amendments, bill passage are set for Tuesday
- Measure aims to update energy infrastructure, boost efficiency
U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (right) and ranking member Senator Maria Cantwell confer during a hearing on Jan. 19, 2016, in Washington.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThe sharply divided U.S. Senate is poised to pass comprehensive energy legislation for the first time in nearly a decade, forging a rare bipartisan compromise -- even if the result is far less ambitious than energy packages of years past.
"It’s probably not going to be known for the sweeping changes it makes to the U.S. energy system," said Sarah Ladislaw, director of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But it is a big deal because it shows bipartisan energy policy is still possible. In this Congress, in energy policy, that matters."