Retiring Sen. Chambliss tried, failed to break energy gridlock

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who cited “frustration” with gridlocked fiscal debates in announcing Friday that he won’t run again, is also no stranger to Capitol Hill's political stalemate on energy policy.

The Georgia senator helped lead an effort to advance a big, bipartisan energy plan several years ago that sputtered after gaining initial traction.

Chambliss and now-retired Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) led the ad-hoc, bipartisan “Gang of 10” senators that formed in the summer of 2008 and grew to 20 members.

They rolled out a broad proposal that blended wider offshore drilling with major new investments and incentives around electric vehicles and biofuels, as well as measures to support nuclear power.



The 2008 plan called for raising billions of dollars to support green energy investments by repealing or limiting some oil-and-gas industry tax breaks.

But the effort, after gaining traction initially, sputtered and fell apart amid intense election-season battles over high oil and gasoline prices.

Conrad and Chambliss tried to revive the energy “gang” in 2011 but it didn’t take flight.