Bush Meets with Lawmakers to Push for Energy Bill

WASHINGTON - - President Bush met with lawmakers on Wednesday to urge passage of a sweeping U.S. energy bill and refrained from insisting the final legislation include his cherished proposal for Alaskan oil drilling.

The wide-ranging legislation would provide tax incentives for energy production and conservation and modernization of the aging U.S. aging electricity grid -- a priority for Bush after a massive blackout on Aug. 14-15 left over 50 million people without power.

Bush said he hoped Congress would have a final bill on his desk by mid-October.

A proposal to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was a centerpiece of Bush's energy proposals when he came into office two years ago. But Bush acknowledged it has become a stumbling block in discussions on the energy bill.

``The conferees will work as hard as they can to come up with a good bill that can pass both bodies,'' Bush told reporters after meeting with members of both houses of Congress trying to hammer out a compromise on differing versions of the legislation.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers attended the meeting at the White House.

The draft of the bill passed by the House would open the Alaskan refuge for drilling. The Senate version would not.

Bush said of the ANWR provision: ``That's certainly a contentious issue. You'll find strong opinions around the table on this.''

'POLITICALLY DOABLE'

Just after the meeting with Bush, Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy Committee, told reporters the president did not draw a line in the sand saying ANWR drilling must be included for the bill to gain his stamp of approval.

``What he said was we ought to do everything we can to increase (oil and natural gas) production,'' the Louisiana congressman said of Bush. ``He's giving us room to do our job.''

According to Tauzin, Bush said lawmakers should pursue every option that is ``politically doable.''

Opponents of the drilling want to maintain the Alaskan reserve as a sanctuary for polar bears, caribou and other wildlife. The Bush administration contends that technology will allow exploration of the area without harming the environment.

Bush has also pushed Alaskan drilling as a way of lessening U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Senate Democrats vowed recently to block final passage of any bill that would open the refuge for drilling.

Democratic senators involved in the negotiations said at least 45 of their colleagues, including five Republicans and independent James Jeffords of Vermont, were willing to use a procedural hurdle known as a filibuster that could kill the bill.

Sen. Pete Domenici, the Republican heading the negotiating panel on the legislation, said he will not sacrifice an energy bill to get ANWR drilling approved.

``We're not going to let ANWR defeat a comprehensive energy bill. If it's going to kill it, it's not going to be in it.''