Senior principal in Bracewell’s Policy Resolution Group Frank Maisano told E&E News that he sees potential bright spots for bipartisanship around energy issues, particularly if the balance of power shifts in the Senate to favor Republicans and Democrats win back the House.
“If you have Republicans taking over the Senate,” Maisano explained, “now that puts people like Lisa Murkowski [R-Alaska] back in the driver’s seat of being that Joe Manchin voice. John Curtis [R-Utah] will be there, too.”
Maisano noted how Murkowski, once the Senate Energy and Natural Resources chair, worked with Democrats to help secure passage of a significant energy package that, among other things, called for the phaseout of hydrofluorocarbons.
When it comes to reaching an agreement on permitting, he added that advocates of a bipartisan compromise that streamlines the process for oil and gas projects alongside renewables could find an ally in Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, who is on track to become the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources panel.
