Washington, D.C. – The Senate passed an energy bill after a lengthy debate caused by Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's circumvention of the legislative process, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said today.

Enzi voted in favor of the bill, but he said the weeks of partisan wrangling on the Senate floor could have been avoided if Daschle had let the Energy Committee pass its own bill before sending it to the floor for debate.

"It's a terrible way to work a bill. It was Daschlized," said Enzi. "If he had let the committee process work there would have been agreement on 80 percent of the bill before we debated the finer philosophical and political points on the floor. Instead we had to start at 30 percent agreement and then we were only able to work our way up to a pretty mediocre conclusion."

But while sour on the process, Enzi said the bill does represent the first national energy policy since the oil crisis of the 1970s and there are some good provisions in the legislation that should be beneficial to Wyoming.

Enzi was successful in adding a provision in the bill that would require the BLM director to exert her existing authority to help resolve disputes between coal bed methane developers and coal mines.

The bill contains a $16 billion package of energy-related tax provisions which should help Wyoming producers and energy consumers including municipalities. The tax provisions, among other things are designed to encourage domestic energy production, energy efficiency and conservation and development of alternative fuels and vehicles. Entrepreneurs seeking to tap Wyoming's wind energy may also benefit from the bill.

Enzi is pleased the bill contains a provision that gives the states' regional transmission organizations more authority and gives them formal recognition. He is hopeful the provision will ensure reliability in electricity service across the United States by creating uniformity and accountability across the power grid, while also providing sufficient flexibility to accommodate the differences among the three interconnections in North America .

Enzi has long maintained that a national energy policy is vital to the security of the U.S. Saddam Hussein is using oil as a weapon against the U.S. and is encouraging other Middle East countries to do the same. The U.S. imports nearly 60 percent of its oil. American refineries are running at full capacity. There aren't enough power plants to supply the country's increasing demand or a power transmission system to deliver the electricity. The energy bill contains provisions that will help the country begin to address these serious problems.

"Cold winters, hot summers, trouble in South America and the Middle East have led the public to insist on a national energy policy and this bill gives us a start," said Enzi. "The House passed a good bill that closely follows President Bush and Vice President Cheney's energy plan. When we conference the Senate bill with the House version we will hopefully have an improved product."

The Senate vote to pass its energy measure was 88-11.