The reform blueprint released today after an independent, White House-sought review of the Energy Department's loan program -- and given unique political weight by the Solyndra bankruptcy -- will get a public airing in the Senate that could end in legislative changes, according to the leader of its energy panel.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said today that while he is reluctant to start a fresh top-to-bottom inquiry into the loans' effectiveness, he would host DOE loan program reviewer Herb Allison for a hearing next month. Bingaman also would not rule out considering legislative changes to the program.

"I don't want to just provide another forum for political attacks," Bingaman said an interview for C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program set to air Sunday and taped before the release of today's DOE look-back report (see related story).

"To the extent that there are recommendations coming out of this report that are useful and that we should be considering legislation on, then it is appropriate for our committee to do something," he added.

Having helped shape the DOE loan program alongside retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), another former energy committee chief, Bingaman is in a difficult spot as Republicans press their ongoing investigation into the Obama administration's handling of a half-billion-dollar loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt California solar tube manufacturer Solyndra.

Bingaman said last year that he would hold a hearing on aspects of the DOE loans' overall mission but later postponed that forum, and he gave no indication to C-SPAN about a time frame for taking up any upper-chamber action on energy loan guarantees.

He also threw cold water on the leading GOP proposal to rein in DOE's power over the program by preventing it from financially restructuring loans, as was done in Solyndra's case.

"I'm reluctant to issue a blanket endorsement of all sorts of micromanagement by Congress," said the New Mexican, who plans to leave Congress after this year. "The people running the loan guarantee program have to have some flexibility to deal with the circumstances they're encountering."

Keystone XL

Bingaman walked a similar line on the Keystone XL pipeline, indicating sympathy for the GOP argument that postponing a review of the $7 billion project until 2013 may amount to politically motivated foot-dragging but giving no indication that he would back Republican efforts to speed the Canada-to-United-States oil link to fruition.

The administration's stance that "they shouldn't be forced to issue a permit until they're satisfied on the environmental effects involved, that's valid," Bingaman told C-SPAN. "Whether that requires another six to eight months, that's open to question."

The public at large "would like to go ahead with the project," Bingaman added, as would "most members of Congress."

Green advocates, however, are fiercely opposed to permitting the XL line to nearly double U.S. import capacity for emissions-intensive Canadian oil-sands crude. The leaders of 38 major conservation groups today underscored that unified front in a letter to senators who may face a pivotal test vote on the pipeline next week as House Republicans try to muscle through a transportation bill that also carries a green light for the project despite its presidential rejection.

"The facts reveal this pipeline was never in America's national interest," the 38 environmentalists wrote. "Clean energy and fuel efficiency is the path forward for economic and energy security in America -- not another tar sands pipeline."

Underscoring the degree that other members of Bingaman's party are taking the pipeline fight to the GOP, four Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today prodded Keystone XL sponsor TransCanada Corp. to back up its previous claim that three-quarters of the steel procured for the project is sourced from the United States.

In addition to requesting the provenance of steel bought for the pipeline, Reps. Henry Waxman (Calif.), John Dingell (Mich.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), and Mike Doyle (Pa.) asked TransCanada to identify "the specific geographic location" and items produced through what the company says would be 7,000 manufacturing jobs created if the project were approved.

CES and refineries

Bingaman also reiterated his desire to lay down a marker on a clean energy standard (CES) for electric utilities through legislation that could see public release as soon as next week. Yet he acknowledged anew to C-SPAN that he does not expect the mandate for lower-carbon power to clear Congress this year.

"I'm not a great one for forcing votes I can't win," he said. "We're going to try to educate people on it and see where the votes are."

As he prepares to take up the CES, Bingaman also faced a fresh request from within his party for an energy-committee examination of the dismal outlook for East Coast gasoline prices this year in the wake of several pending refinery sales.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), considered vulnerable in his re-election race this fall, asked Bingaman in a letter today to examine the effect that idling at as many as three refineries in his state would have on the slowly recovering U.S. economy.

"Specifically, closing the refineries will lead to a reduction in short-term supply, longer delivery times and potential transportation bottlenecks," Casey wrote. "The cost of certain transportation fuels will increase, driving up the cost of production for businesses and, in turn, the price of goods for consumers."

Click here to read the environmentalist CEOs' letter to senators on Keystone XL.

Click here to read Casey's letter to Bingaman.