Saturday, November 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Ensign opposes, keeps energy bill alive
Nevada Republican's vote raises eyebrows on both sides of the issue
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Breaking with his party, Sen. John Ensign said Friday that he opposes a major energy bill that has been a top priority of President Bush.
But that didn't stop the Nevadan from voting Friday with fellow Republicans to keep the bill alive.
Ensign said the $31 billion bill is laden with pork-barrel spending, including generous ethanol benefits for farm states and millions of dollars to build energy-efficient shopping centers in Colorado and Louisiana.
Ensign also opposed new production subsidies for the nuclear power industry, which critics say will only encourage the Energy Department to continue pursuing a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
While supporters said the bill would increase and diversify domestic energy production, Ensign said, "It's bad policy all around."
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also opposes the bill, saying it grants "outrageous subsidies to the coal, natural gas, oil and nuclear industries."
But while Ensign said he does not want the bill to become law, he cast a vote Friday that raised eyebrows among others fighting the measure.
Ensign sided with Bush and other Republicans, voting to keep the bill alive in the face of a Democratic-led filibuster. The vote was 57-40, three short of the 60 needed for Republicans to prevail, and the bill was blocked.
Karen Wayland, acting legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Ensign tried to have it both ways: opposing the bill but voting to break a filibuster that could kill it.
"If he truly opposed the bill, he would have voted against it," Wayland said. "It really was a cop-out."
"The only way he can guarantee this bill will be stopped as a budget buster is to stop it in its tracks now," said Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Ensign defended the vote. He said he wanted the bill to move forward so senators could debate its excessive costs and send it back to committee to revise its price tag.
"It's the only way to actually fix this bill," Ensign said.
Reid said the energy bill "is going nowhere."
Majority leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., vowed to have the Senate keep voting until the bill passes.
"This policy is too important for the American people to desert," Frist said.
