Lugar eyes bipartisan support for planned energy bill

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) said his office is in touch with Democrats as he plans to reintroduce a sweeping energy bill.

“We are in very complex conversations,” Lugar said in the Capitol on Monday evening. “Our reach has been on both sides of the aisle.”

Lugar — the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee — indicated that the discussions have occurred largely at the staff level.

Lugar floated an earlier version of the bill, which is aimed at curbing oil reliance and reducing emissions without cap-and-trade, last year.

His plan included required long-term increases in vehicle efficiency; enhanced building codes; the building of retrofit programs; expanded loan guarantees for nuclear power plants; new federal support for industrial energy efficiency gains; and many other measures.

Lugar did not say when the new version of the bill would be introduced.