Before the House passed the bill 247-175, it rejected an amendment proposed by Reps. Nancy L. Johnson, R-Conn., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., which aimed to prevent oil drilling on the north slope in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Connecticut delegation had unanimously supported that amendment.

Johnson and fellow Republican Rep. Christopher Shays as well as Democratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro and John Larson voted against the final energy bill; Rep. Robert R. Simmons, a Republican, was the sole supporter from Connecticut.

Supporters of the energy bill have said that it balances fossil fuels with new, alternative energy sources like wind, biomass, and hydrogen power.

DeLauro said she voted against the bill because she wants an energy policy that would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. “This bill doesn’t do that,” she said, emphasizing the need for a policy that not only draws on alternative industries and technologies, but works to “develop the infrastructure” of those energy sources.

On Tuesday, Markey announced that he and Johnson were nine votes away from success on the amendment. It was defeated Thursday 197-228, with nine House members not voting.

A number of other amendments supported by environmentalists were also defeated in Thursday’s session, including one to increase fuel efficiency standards for some motor vehicles.

A spokesman for Johnson’s office emphasized that even though they lost on the amendment, they had won the battle for the moment because the Senate deleted the Alaskan oil drilling provision from its version of the energy bill, 52-48. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M, has said that he will not risk stalling the final compromise bill in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to break a filibuster, by pursuing oil drilling in the refuge.

Johnson and Markey have also sponsored a bill, the Morris K. Udall Arctic Refuge Act, that would classify the coastal plain of the refuge as a “wilderness,” and remove the possibility of drilling there in the future. The bill has been sent to the House Committee on Resources.

According to committee spokesman Doug Heye, the bill has no chance of getting past the committee because Markey did not attend the hearing held on the bill on March 6 in Kaktovic, Alaska.