Energy legislation to test fractured Democrats

[jpak]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/04/MNAS16QTJ1.DTL

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is known as a faithful Democrat, reliably loyal to her party on such divisive issues as abortion rights and gun control.

But when the subject matter is energy policy, she is more likely to be shoulder to shoulder with Republicans than her Democratic colleagues.

That's because the politics of energy are regional, not just Republican versus Democrat. Energy-rich and manufacturing states increasingly are pitted against California and other states that use more renewable power.

The adage that "all politics is local" is especially true when applied to energy issues, said Bruce Oppenheimer, a public policy expert at Vanderbilt University, who has studied the intersection of oil and politics.

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