Energy-Efficiency Bill Fails

The Senate officially presided over the demise of bipartisan energy efficiency legislation Monday — and the chance to put the Keystone XL pipeline up for a vote ahead of the midterm elections. On a 55-36 vote, the Senate fell short of the 60 votes needed Monday to move ahead on the innocuous and popular efficiency bill from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) that had been caught in the headwinds of the far more politically fraught debates over the Keystone pipeline and EPA regulations.

The bill, which had drawn unusual bipartisan support, died in the Senate in a standoff over the Keystone XL pipeline and plans for climate change regulations.

The sponsors of a bill to promote U.S. energy conservation built it to pass in a Congress where almost nothing passes.