LARAMIE -- The newly passed Senate Energy Bill, S.10, is a major improvement over a version of the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a Wyoming-based conservation group.

The bill passed on a vote of 85 to 12. Excluded from the Senate version were damaging provisions included in the House bill that would strip away the need for studying environmental impacts and considering low-impact alternatives for a myriad of oil and gas projects. Under the House bill, adding drilling to existing fields, seismic exploration using 32-ton thumper trucks, and drilling of individual wells regardless of whether or not they are in sensitive areas would all be exempted from environmental oversight. Also excluded from the Senate version were exemptions for hydraulic fracturing (which often uses diesel fuel and other toxic compounds) from the Safe Water Drinking Act and exemptions for the control of water pollution that runs off from well sites and roads under the Clean Water Act. In addition, billions of dollars were provided to aid the transition to renewable energy sources, while the Senate declined to approve drilling in the sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"The Senate version of the Energy Bill provides a wiser approach to managing oil and gas drilling than its House counterpart," said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "While the bill is not perfect, the Senate is to be commended for refusing to endorse loopholes for environmental safeguards in drilling operations."

The Senate version still offers billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for oil companies, which currently represent the world's wealthiest industry. Other disappointments include a failure to provide safeguards for western landowners who do not own the minerals underneath their property.

"What this nation really needs is a fundamental reform in the way that the oil and gas industry does business, with an emphasis on directional drilling and other cutting-edge technologies that allow drilling to be done right, with minimal damage to our lands and wildlife," added Molvar. "But it is a relief that the Senate has not joined the House of Representatives in a giant leap backward into the Stone Age of energy policy."

The bills now head to conference committee, where differences in the House and Senate versions will be reconciled.