Senate Dems Give Up on Spill Bill

"Democrats on Tuesday gave up trying to pass even a scaled-back energy bill this summer that would have removed liability ceilings on oil companies, a reaction to the BP oil spill.

The bill also would have offered rebates to consumers for home energy efficiency improvements and encouraged federal agencies to buy more electric vehicles and retrofit heavy duty vehicles for natural gas.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was unable to find a handful of Republicans to help advance the energy bill before the August recess. The bill would have removed the $75 million cap on oil spill liability and required energy companies to pay higher fees into an oil spill trust fund. The House passed a similar bill last week. "

The Associated Press had the story August 3, 2010.