Drilling to dominate September Lawmakers returned to Washington this week after a month-long hiatus. Lobbyists expected much of the first week to be dedicated to drilling, as Democrats in the House and Senate continued to work Monday to find a compromise that would open up some new areas to oil and gas companies but also promote renewable energy development. Acknowledging the tide on the offshore debate may have turned against them, environmental groups tried to make the best of a bad situation. “If they are going to do something we don’t like, it should be weighted heavily with something we do like on clean energy and renewables,” said Athan Manuel, director of lands protection for the Sierra Club. For the Sierra Club, that means inclusion of a renewable electricity standard that would require utilities to produce a certain amount of their power by using renewable energy sources....