Energy bill hits Senate snag

Senators hold up bill raisng fuel-efficiency standards - and protest tax increases and renewable power mandate.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An energy bill that would require automakers to raise their average fuel economy standards, increase ethanol use, and raise taxes on the oil industry hit a procedural roadblock in the Senate Friday, but senators vowed to work during the weekend to find a way to advance the bill.

A procedural vote on the bill failed 53-42, seven votes short of the 60 needed for the bill to advance. Republicans objected to $21 billion in new taxes contained in the bill.

The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 235-181 Thursday night, would be the first major increase in fuel-economy standards in more than 30 years.

It would require automakers to raise their "corporate average fuel economy," or CAFE, standard by 40 percent to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Supporters say that would result in significant fuel savings.

The current standard - 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 for trucks - was established in 1975.

Senators said the bill's failure to overcome the procedural hurdle does not mean the legislation was dead.

"This doesn't mark the end of this bill," the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, said. "It means we have to go to work to fix some of the problems that the House bill has generated for us."

The Democratic chairman of the committee, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, said he saw some changes to the legislation "that can make this bill acceptable to a vast majority of senators." He said a new version could be brought to the floor next week.

A senior Democratic aide told CNN that the next vote on the energy bill is likely to occur Tuesday.

Although the auto industry and many Republicans support the bill's new CAFE standards, the new taxes contained in the bill complicate its prospects for passage in the Senate. The bill would repeal billions of dollars of tax subsidies, including $13 billion for the nation's five largest oil companies.

The bill also includes a mandate that electric utility companies generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources of energy, such as wind, biomass or solar power by 2020, which some lawmakers found objectionable.

It also includes a mandate to use 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022

The White House has threatened to veto the bill. Earlier this week, the president's chief economic adviser, Allan Hubbard, wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., citing the renewable electricity mandate and the taxes as unacceptable.

-- CNN congressional producer Deirdre Walsh and congressional correspondent Jessica Yellin contributed to this report.