US Senate to vote on energy bill, House talks loom

[maddezmom]

By Chris Baltimore
16 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate is poised to approve a wide-ranging package of energy incentives on Tuesday, but heated negotiations with the House of Representatives loom before the bill reaches the president's desk.

The Senate's bill would double use of corn-blended ethanol by 2012, shore up electric grid reliability and offer $14.1 billion in tax breaks and incentives to boost domestic production. The energy bill is expected to pass.

Missing from the Senate plan are several contentious issues that the House included in a bill passed in April, including limited liability for makers of a water-polluting fuel additive and drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

President Bush has told Congress to give him a bill to approve by Aug. 1 as crude oil prices hit records above $60 a barrel, but administration officials concede the bill will offer U.S. consumers little short-term relief.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050627/pl_nm/energy_congress_dc_3