WASHINGTON -- With the environment shaping up to be a key issue in next year 's midterm election, lawmakers are under pressure to lean green when the House takes up President Bush's energy plan this week. The package of bills that will be brought to the floor by House GOP leaders emphasizes greater energy production and reliance on fossil fuels as opposed to the alternative energy sources and greater energy efficiency favored by environmentalists.

The non-profit Clean Air Trust today awarded its clean air "Villain of the Month" award to the National Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group of coal-burning power companies accused of evading the Clean Air Act. Members of the Council -- including the Southern Company, First Energy, and Duke Power -- are defendants in high-profile Justice Department anti-pollution lawsuits. (Another financial contributor to the Council, the Tennessee Valley Authority, is facing administrative action by the Environmental Protection Agency for the same sort of pollution violations.)

Advocates for wind power and other renewable energy sources bickered with supporters of President Bush's aggressive plans for more power plants and offshore drilling at a town hall meeting Monday night in the nation's energy capital. "The Bush plan is just a scam," protesters against the plan shouted as they marched in a circle in front of a 20-foot-tall inflatable White House replica with four smoke stacks emerging from its roof. They said renewable energy, such as wind power, should be considered before reverting to old methods, such as coal burning.

The political duel between California and Washington continued Tuesday as the Republican whip in the House scolded the state on how to solve the electricity crunch, and the state attorney general joined in a lawsuit over energy efficiency standards for appliances that were issued during the final days of the Clinton administration.

News Advisory: Gov. Gray Davis (D-Calif.) is scheduled to testify before the Senate Government Affairs Committee regarding the ongoing energy crisis in California. Gov. Davis, following the advice of two former campaign advisers to Al Gore, has spent the last few months blaming President Bush for the heightening energy crisis in California. Experts from Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), in an effort to counter the misinformation, will be available outside of room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to comment on the energy crisis in California during Davis' appearance before the committee. "We must remember this energy crisis in California falls squarely on the shoulders of the state's chief executive officer. It's Gray Davis' fault," said Chad Cowan, director of communications for CSE. "It's unfortunate that Gov. Davis has chosen to come to Washington to continue the political blame game. He should be back in California, tending to the energy problems that plague California's families, problems he helped create." WHAT: The Price Cap Truth Squad Responds to Gov. Gray Davis WHO: The Price Cap Truth Squad (Patrick Burns, director of energy policy at CSE; Glenn Spencer, CSE energy policy analyst; Chad Cowan, CSE director of communications; and Stephen Flaherty, CSE director of campaign operations) WHEN: June 20, 9 a.m. WHERE: Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building For more information about CSE's positions on energy visit www.cse.org/informed/energy.html.

Gasoline prices may have dropped, but that doesn't mean the energy crisis is over - nor that we should abandon efforts to make the United States less dependent on outside sources of oil, a Bush Cabinet member told an audience Monday in DuPage County. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, during a question-and-answer session with 200 suburban residents at Argonne National Laboratory near Darien, acknowledged this spring's energy problems had somewhat subsided.

WASHINGTON -- The 40-foot segments of a planned natural gas pipeline that recently began arriving at Port Manatee are a promising sign for Florida's electric power plants. The question is how full or empty those promises may be. The state's gas needs are expected to almost triple by 2020, but the new pipeline from Mobile, Ala., will cross Gulf of Mexico waters that the state of Florida is fighting to keep free of oil and gas platforms.

The 40-foot segments of a planned natural gas pipeline that recently began arriving at Port Manatee are a promising sign for Florida's electric power plants. The question is how full or empty those promises may be. The state's gas needs are expected to almost triple by 2020, but the new pipeline from Mobile, Ala., will cross Gulf of Mexico waters that the state of Florida is fighting to keep free of oil and gas platforms.