Congress is progressing with bipartisan support for some energy issues, but wide rifts remain on how to proceed with major policy initiatives, including domestic drilling and nuclear energy, said panelists speaking at the IHS CERA Week energy conference in Houston March 5.
Partisan wrangling has significantly slowed down the number of laws passed by Congress in recent years, said Robert Simon, Democratic staff director for the U.S. Senate Energy Committee. Areas that have received cross-party backing include energy efficiency, clean energy and cybersecurity for the smart grid, he said.
Simon was part of a panel discussing U.S. energy policy in an election year during opening discussions for the five-day event. CERA Week is one of the largest annual energy conferences. This year's event includes keynote speeches from energy and chemical industry leaders such as Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson and Dow Chemical's Andrew Liveris.
