Prospects for Energy Bill Improve

By H. JOSEF HEBERT
The Associated Press
Monday, July 25, 2005; 2:58 AM

WASHINGTON -- House and Senate negotiators removed a major obstacle that had deadlocked energy legislation for more than two years, but even supporters say the measure will not provide short-term relief from high gasoline prices.

Lawmakers hoped a compromise bill might be completed in a day although disputes remained over the size of an energy tax package.

The conferees on Sunday abandoned a bid to give makers of the gasoline additive MTBE liability protection against environmental lawsuits. That decision defused the issue that had caused the collapse of a sweeping energy bill two years ago in the Senate.