It started with the desire to give the editors a story out of Washington to post online while I covered the first day of Deloitte's 2014 Washington Energy Conference on May 13. A press release US Sen. Debbie Stabanow's (D-Mich.) office issued May 9 looked promising.
The press release's title read, "Senators Stabenow and Markey lead bipartisan group of 22 senators urging President Obama to consider the impact of large-scale natural gas exports on American manufacturing, families." The release said Stabenow, Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and 20 other Senators urged US President Barack Obama in a letter to consider possible adverse impacts authorizing too many LNG export facilities might have on manufacturers and American families.
It represented a point of view I hadn't reported much. I did a quick write-up, and included the names of those who signed the letter and their party affiliations. There were 20 Democrats, one Republican (Susan Collins of Maine), and one Independent (Angus King, also of Maine).
OGJ readers were not amused. Six told me so in e-mails with subject lines like, "Bipartisan? Really?" Some conceded the point when I responded that US House Republicans play equally fast and loose with the term. They trumpet bipartisan support if they get a few Democrats to back a bill aimed at facilitating more oil and gas activity or trying to restrain a federal regulator they think is overly aggressive.
I said that no matter which party uses this tactic, the idea's advocates imply that their support is broader than it actually is. I didn't say then what I feel now: It cheapens an idea that has been largely absent from Congress for several sessions.
Energy issue division
Oil and gas issues don't divide Congress strictly along party lines, by the way. The differences occur most frequently between lawmakers from producing and consuming states. Except for Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the senators who signed Stabanow and Markey's letter came from consuming states. Several of their constituents said they didn't get enough propane or natural gas this past winter.
Meanwhile, an actual bipartisan energy bill ran aground May 12 when top Senate Democrats and Republicans refused to compromise. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) initially introduced their energy efficiency measure, S. 761, on Apr. 13, 2013. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee referred it to the full Senate soon after.
The bill seemed headed for consideration until Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Ranking Minority Member Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) started to wrangle over whether amendments should be allowed. Reid finally said it would not be brought up after all. Shaheen and Portman said they'd keep working on it.