In fact, all but 10 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday (June 20) were on the losing side of a 245-178 vote for a rule in an energy bill “that would encourage more development of domestic energy sources, in part by tying expanded production to use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”

All Republicans voting voted in favor of the rule in the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act. Hawaii’s Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa voted “nay.”

Excerpt from this report in The Hill:

Passage of the rule sets up two hours of debate on the bill in the House, and consideration of up to 27 amendments later in the day.

Under the legislation, decisions to take oil from the SPR would have to be balanced with a plan from the Department of Energy to increase domestic production, by increasing the federal lands available for drilling. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said the bill is a reminder that the Obama administration is not doing enough to ensure domestic energy supplies and create jobs in the energy industry. …

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) argued that the bill should be called the “Death and Destruction Act,” because it would increase pollution and “directly lead to the death of American citizens.”

—Chad Blair