RRC Archives

Note - Mike DeWine of Ohio!

Six Republican Senators Turn Against Bush on ANWR
Reuters
Jan 31 2003 4:37PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling suffered a major blow on Friday as six Republican senators said they opposed inserting language into a must-pass budget bill that would give oil companies access to the refuge.

ANWR, which is home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife, sprawls across 19 million acres of Alaska's northeast corner.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed energy legislation last year that would have opened ANWR to drilling, but a Democratic-led Senate did not pass similar legislation.

The White House contends that the refuge's potential 16 billion barrels of crude must be tapped to help reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports from unfriendly countries like Iraq.

But many Democrats and environmentalists oppose drilling, saying the administration should cut oil imports by boosting the mileage standards of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

Six of the Senate's 51 Republicans, including former presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona, on Friday announced they would not go along with a plan to tack ANWR drilling language onto a massive spending bill this spring that would enact the new 2004 budget for the federal government.

"Because the opening of the Arctic refuge to drilling raises a host of policy concerns, including serious environmental ramifications, we do not believe this issue should be injected in the budget process," the lawmakers said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles.

The letter is the latest twist in a two-year legislative battle over drilling in the Alaskan refuge.

The Democratic-led Senate last year soundly defeated efforts to open the refuge, when drilling supporters fell short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on the controversial proposal and allow a final vote on the measure.

DRILLING BACKERS DON'T WANT A FILIBUSTER

To get around a filibuster this time around, supporters of opening the refuge want to attach drilling language to must-pass legislation to fund the 2004 budget for the federal government. They argue that such language is appropriate for budget legislation because of the fees the government would collect from leasing tracts in the refuge to oil companies.

Under Senate rules, budget legislation cannot be filibustered and only 50 votes would be needed to approve the bill and an attached ANWR drilling provision.

In addition to McCain, the letter was signed by Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, and Mike DeWine of Ohio. The six were part of a group of eight Republicans who crossed the aisle last year to vote against ANWR drilling.

In his State of the Union speech to Congress earlier this week, President Bush urged lawmakers to pass legislation enacting his national energy plan, which includes drilling in the refuge.

Two Democratic presidential hopefuls, Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, oppose ANWR drilling and have promised to filibuster any energy bill that would open the refuge.

A new poll released on Friday by The Wilderness Society showed that by a two-to-one margin, voters reject opening the Arctic refuge to oil drilling, even in the case of impending war with Iraq and a possible cut-off of some of America's oil supplies from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Senate Energy Committee announced on Friday a series of hearings that will focus on the energy challenges facing the United States and will also guide the development of comprehensive energy legislation.

"My top priorities will be hammering out a robust and diverse energy bill for floor consideration this summer," said panel chairman Pete Domenici.

"Right now, America is faced with energy challenges and opportunities. We are on the brink of war in the Middle East and dangerously dependent on Middle East oil," he added.

The panel will hold three hearings in February on oil and natural supplies, and energy production on federal lands -- which could include drilling in the Arctic refuge.


01/31/03 16:33 ET

I've been wondering if Bush would be able to sneak this drilling thing in amongst all the anti-terrorism craziness. It's good to see there are some politicians out there with some environmental sense. Plus, I heard the other day (tell me if I'm wrong) that we only get 25% of our oil from the Middle East, and that of the top 10 countries from which we get our oil, only 2 are in the Middle East...

While all this happened the price we pay at the pumps took a big jump.

ynot wrote:While all this happened the price we pay at the pumps took a big jump.

The gas hike happened prior to this particular decision, Ynot, in anticipation of Bush's little war. We still pay very little for gasoline compared to many countries. Raping ANWR to keep gas prices low is not a good trade-off in my opinion, even if that would be the effect (which it would not).

Yasmeen, I'm not sure of the numbers, but yes, something like that.

We really need to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise these bigwig politician's are going to keep pushing it in the name of keeping this price and that price low. It's bullshit. I don't want to live in a cement jungle just so I can save a few bucks driving from point A to B.

amen, Yasmeen.

The best suggestion I can make is to keep on top of what is happening in Washington with bills as they are drafted and coming up for vote. Write to your Senators and Congressmen. Email is the norm now in the wake of the anthrax scare. Phone calls are also very effective. A rule of thumb is that you must provide your entire name and complete address (with zip code) so these people know that your vote impacts them. They work for you, tell them what you want and why. Petitions are useless, by the way.

You can get email addresses here:
Congress
Senate
Note that sometimes you will get an autoreply with an email directing you to go to another website to resubmit your letter. Do it, even though you shouldn't have to. Be politically active - learn the issues, formulate your opinions, make them known, and vote. Far too few Americans do these things...

Thanks for all the info, Lynne. Why are petitions useless? Not that I was going to start one or anything, just curious.

petitions generally only collect signatures or incomplete street addresses. These carry no weight whatsoever since voter information is absolutely required. Even if full information is collected, a politician will more easily disregard a clear lack of investment of time/energy on an individual voter's part who merely signs a petition or even forwards an obvious form letter. Basically petitions carry very little to no clout in Washington. Also, many if not all internet chain letters collecting email address for political (and other) reasons are hoaxes. Delete them. Bitch at your stupid friends for forwarding them.

Delete them?? Are you crazy!?!? But this email has been kept in circulation since before Jesus was born and we're trying to keep it going until 2547!!! You're going to be the one to break the chain!? Go ahead, but I wouldn't want that kind of guilt hanging over *my* head...

I sure wish I had the time to fill y'all in on what this incredibly sneaky and underhanded administration is trying to do to our FEDERAL PUBLIC lands out here in the west. Pilot projects that are allowing counties complete control of their public lands, old statues like RS2477 that allows local govts to reclaim old routes, routes that never existed, thru wilderness, wilderenss study areas, National Monuments and Parks. I could go on and on. This administration learned something from the James Watt/Reagan era - Be sneaky, take out public input, and ignore the locals.

An example - We have an incredible area called the Roan Plateau here in Colorado that Bush fast-tracked for drilling. Every local county/city govt endorsed protecting the top of the Plateau, and out of the 11,000 comments the BLM recieved, 10,950 supported the same. DC's response? "Relocate" the current project manager. I think its quite funny that the republicans have always been about local control, its the locals that should make the decisions about what happens in their backyard. Unless those locals have a different set of ideals, of course.