  It is shown that the groups of finite energy (that is, Sobolev class $H^1$)
paths and loops with values in a compact Lie group are amenable in the sense of
Pierre de la Harpe, that is, every continuous action of such a group on a
compact space admits an invariant regular Borel probability measure. To our
knowledge, the strongest previously known result concerned the amenability of
groups of continuous paths and loops (Malliavin and Malliavin 1992).
