In the name of promoting "domestic security," Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) offered an amendment to H.R. 6, the energy bill, that would have allowed the elimination of current public health and environmental permitting procedures for new or expanded oil refineries, coal-to-liquid refineries, and ethanol or bio-diesel plants.

The amendment would have replaced all state and federal approvals with a single "consolidated" permit and would have set arbitrary deadlines for approving permits regardless of the complexity of the proposed facility. The amendment would also have barred state courts from reviewing permitting decisions and would have limited challenges brought in federal court.

On June 13, 2007, the Senate rejected the Inhofe amendment by a 43-52 vote (Senate roll call vote 210). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.