Senate anticipates fights over energy bill in debate this week

WASHINGTON -- The Senate is ready to take up broad energy legislation that has caused splits over automobile gas mileage, drilling in an Arctic refuge and electricity competition in the shadow of Enron Corp.'s collapse.

Debate expected this week comes nine months after President Bush outlined his plan to increase the nation's energy supply by expanding oil and gas drilling on public land and rejuvenating nuclear power.

The House passed its version, but in the Senate, majority Democrats have offered legislation that relies more heavily on conservation.

The crisis atmosphere of a year has all but disappeared -- energy prices are low, supplies plentiful -- and the urgency to act, too, may have lost steam, say lawmakers and lobbyists.

President Bush, in a weekend push to promote his plan, dismissed claims that it focuses too much on fossil fuel production and not enough on conservation and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

"Conservation technology and renewables are important. Yet they alone cannot solve our energy problems," he said in his weekly radio address.

During his recent trip to Asia, Bush stopped in Alaska where he again stressed the need to drill for oil in an Arctic wildlife refuge. The idea won mention in his Saturday broadcast, with the president saying drilling can go ahead without hurting the environment while also providing jobs.

Environmentalists have pledged to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and some Senate Democrats say they will stall energy legislation if Republicans press the refuge drilling issue -- as most expect them to do.