Posted on 01/06/2007 7:53:32 AM PST by saganite
WASHINGTON (AP) – Opponents of oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge are going on the offense after playing defense for a quarter of a century.
They want the new Democratic Congress to make an oft-challenged drilling ban permanent.
Legislation introduced in the House on Friday would make the oil-rich 1.2 million-acre coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a permanently protected wilderness, and end repeated efforts to open the area east of the Prudhoe oil field to energy companies.
“The consensus is that there should not be drilling in the refuge, so the logical next step is to pass legislation which turns it into a wilderness,” Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., chief sponsor of the legislation, said in an interview.
Markey has introduced similar legislation in each of the last three congressional sessions.
However, the House has approved drilling in the refuge a half dozen times, only to see the effort die in the Senate, where supporters couldn’t muster the 60 votes to overcome a likely filibuster.
This time, with Democrats in the majority and a number of moderate Republicans on record as opposed to drilling, Markey believes that he has a good chance in the House to go one step farther and declare the refuge permanently off-limits to oil development.
A co-sponsor of the bill is Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn.
Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, also says this time is different.
“What’s changed is we won’t have those daily assaults” from pro-drilling forces, she said. “We are definitely on the offense.”
Environmentalists said they plan to mobilize the same people that have fought drilling proposals in past years behind the Markey-Ramstad legislation.
Two years ago, when Republicans expanded their majorities in both the House and Senate, the likelihood of opening the refuge to oil development gained new momentum. It already had been a top energy priority of President Bush since 2001.
“Many people had written the obituary for the refuge,” said Melinda Pierce, legislative director of the Sierra Club. But a concerted push by pro-drilling forces fell short.
Now Markey believes the momentum is going the other way.
“We now have a majority of House members that have publicly said they oppose any drilling in the refuge. In the previous Congress we were battling the Republicans in the majority who wanted to drill.”
Environmentalist know that in the Senate they will need 60 votes to get the wilderness designation, with the filibuster threat coming from Republicans this time. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who has battled to open the refuge to oil drilling for a quarter century, has not given up.
The coastal strip of ANWR, as the refuge is commonly referred to, is believed to contain 10.5 billion barrels of oil, approaching the size of the Prudhoe Bay field to the west. At peak production the refuge could supply 1 million barrels a day by 2025, according to the Interior Department.
On the other hand, to environmentalists and conservationists the refuge’s coastal strip represents the ultimate wild place to be protected. They compare it to the Serengeti in Africa because of the wildlife that abound: polar bears, musk oxen, caribou and millions of migratory birds that fly there as part of their annual migration.
Drilling proponents argue that modern technology can limit the footprint on the coastal tundra and develop the oil without disturbing the wildlife.
Bush, who called for opening the refuge during his 2000 presidential campaign, repeatedly has said its environment can be protected alongside oil rigs. He views the refuge’s oil as essential to lessening America’s dependence on foreign energy sources.
Markey disagrees.
“Our addiction to oil is real (but) drilling in the refuge would amount to a declaration that we remain in denial about this addiction,” he said.
“There are some places in our world that are so rare and so special, that we have a responsibility to protect them.”
––––
The bill is H.R.39
“The consensus is that there should not be drilling in the refuge,"
Consensus of who? Markey is showing his dependence on the enviro-whackos.
Stay-at-home-voters reaping the fruits of their stupidity...
This is a classic case of people getting the government they deserve.
When our next few crisis comes, the Dems and enviros will blame anyone but themselves. Will the public fall for it again? Probably.
Gutless RINOs reaping the fruits of their own impotence...
The official oft-repeated response here now instead of "Bush's fault(tm)", it's "Thank you, stay at home 'Real Conservative' voters".
Yep, ban Alaska oil drilling and then spend the next 2, 4, etc. years demagoguing about the price of gas.
This is the issue that has turned my young - 30ish - co-workers from liberal to conservative. They are appalled at the lack of logic. Saying things like, "What do these liberals think will happen if we continue to limit the amount of drilling ...?"
"These" liberals coming from that source is music to my ears. But unfortunately too many 'conservatives' taught everyone else a lesson last November.
bump
Nobody taught anyone a lesson. Conservatives still went out and held their noses for GOP candidates.
Republicans lost due to a variety of factors, none of which include conservatives supposedly staying home. Those who repeat this lie have no proof that they did and are simply masking the GOP's own failures.
In the meantime..east of the our artic border the Canadians are drilling like hell.
I thought they were even "greener" than us.
They are also tearing up a good portion of Alberta for the oil sands.
The DemocRats are stuck on dumb. They are doing everything possible to see that we remain dependent on foreign oil. All the windmills and Pious's won't change that.
The Republican Senators would be wise to let the House Rats know that any bill will be filibustered to oblivion.
The resulting smoke and soot will cause great global warming.
And the burning and erosion will cause multiple native species to die and famine across the area.
Dims to enjoy the chaos.
So tell me why the fus about the refuge?
The map shows a very large, in fact humonguous, area to the west of the sanctuary where the current fields are. Why not expand this area for the time being?
You protest too much...
Dems hate oil, nuclear,wind, and coal. Their plan to energy independance rests on infanticide and euthanasia. Eliminate people and energy demand decreases.
Just a simple question, how can you support energy independence and support a drilling ban. Thank you RINOs for leading us to this.
I'm not sure there are 41 Senators with the balls to do that. My guess is the Republicans are going to go along with pretty much anything the Dems want. That was the way things worked before Reagan and the pubs have slipped back into old habits.
>>Stay-at-home-voters reaping the fruits of their stupidity...
Hogwash. Prove it.
While you're at it, check out my tagline. I'll bet I speak for a large number of conservatives, too.
On the other hand, in their infinite wisdom our Republican (real es)Statesmen did everything they possibly could to trample on their own small-government party principles. The party of small government has indeed become the party of the Chamber of Commerce, housing boom, illegal immigration, Country Club welfare. (Does that describe you, johnny7 ?)
But their defeat *wasn't* at the hand of "stay at home conservatives".
Someone please explain this to me. We had a Republican President who said he was in favor of this drilling, and he had a Republican House and a Republican Senate for six years. I'd like to know why the Dims aren't proposing legislation to dismantle all the rigs put up during these six years.
ML/NJ
According to every poll I've seen, Alaskans *and the Eskimos* want drilling in Anwar.
Rich white liberals from California and New York are opposed.....
How dare you point a finger at the RINO's! Don't you know that it is OUR fault that they alienated all the "fence sitting" voters? We should just shut up and close our eyes to all the RINO abuses that led us to this place. </s>
Why don't you ask johnny7 why we spent the last 6 years doing absolutely nothing with our Congressional advantages. Maybe he can wow us with his astute analysis since he obviously knows more than we do.
People like johnny7 (and the rest of the Freepers who continually blame conservatives for not supporting our putrid Republican candidates) are the reason why we are facing a Presidential election with McCain, Gulliani, and Romney as our GOP front-runners.
Friggin' pathetic.
LOL... talk about guilt-ridden!
Apparently you did not look at the vote totals. In the 2004 Presidential election there was a total of around 51 million voters that pulled the GOP lever compared to around 50 million for the Rats. In the recent Congressional election only 29 million voters pulled the lever for a GOP candidate and 36 million for the rats. How did the GOP lose 22 million voters if some of the base did not sit at home?
PF
Another 'no-show' pipes up...
Actually a combination of both.
That 51 million voters who voted for the GOP in 2004 were not all die-hard conservatives like us here on FR. They were independents, Libertarians, and blue-collar voters, and a lot of them simply saw the hypocrisy of Republicans being corrupt and pandering to the Christian right rather than focusing on meat-and-potato issues.
Stop blaming the voters for the GOP's failures.
Give it up johnny7. One thing most of us should know by now is the USA is full of people who will never accept responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions.
You're the one that's complaining, not me.
I did my part and voted for the Stupid Party.
>> LOL... talk about guilt-ridden!
Hmmm... reviewed your posts in the forum. Page after page of (what I'm sure you think are) witty bon-mots like this one. No debate, no substance, no evidence.
Of course, it's not *my* forum, it's yours too, and there's no law against that. So, whatever makes your socks roll up and down is just fine, johnny7. But the day you pony up a substantive comment is the day I care WTF you think. Not right now.
The GOP dug it's own grave by abandoning economic and quality-of-life issues. Where was the GOP's defense of the surging economy? Border security? SS reform? Coherent defense to Iraq?
These are statistics that must have been a lie?
No, they are factual. There was a serious vacuum of those 'true' conservatives who stayed at home.
It's very simple. Neither the Republican president nor the Republican Senate or the Republican House had the spine to fight for their agenda and squandered their time in office letting the tail wag the dog. We worked very hard to give the 'Pubbies the majority in both Houses and they repaid us by squandering the advantages due to weak leadership that is afraid of its own shadow. Strong leaders, like Tom DeLay, became political targets of incompetent liberal hitmen, supported by the liberal judges appointed by Clinton or Carter or elected by dumbed down masses.
In an effort to not make the Democrats mad, the Republican leadership refused to use the legislative tools available to them to counter the obstructionist tactics of the left. Frankly, I would have bought ringside seats to see the 'Pubbies stand up to the Dems rather than continually backing down. Frist, notably refused to use the so-called nuclear option to break the stalemate over judge nominees. Now, we are paying the price of these appeasement tactics.
The Republicans, by their own sheer incompetence, mismanagement and abandonment of their conservative philosophies may very well have paved the way for another 40 years or longer as the minority party. This is the legacy the Dems will use against Republicans for the next several election cycles.
Why cant (wont) Bush just open up ANWAR by executive order??? Clinton sealed the Utah anthracite fields by EO. And the rats dont have 60 votes to override. Please explain this !!!!
See # 29. I'm sure the poster would be glad to give you the source. I saw it myself on "Town Hall". It is real...so you can stop making opinions based on assumptions.
So many facts get in the way of the "greenies", one of which is that China is building hundreds of coal fired energy producing plants with which to supply outlying rural areas with electricity. This enormous amount of pollution will drift in over California and other western States in amounts that will do substantial harm to the environment. It is hypocritical of the leftists to not protest this primitive source of energy but because the Chinese are a Communist government, the silence from the greens is outrageous.
America is their target, capitalism must be destroyed but not one whimper from the leftoids regarding the ChiComs.
A list of names of all Congressional votes denying drilling in ANWAR, the Gulf, off the California coast to say nothing about their stopping any production of oil shale in the West or new refineries along the Gulf Coast, must be made public.
We are being strangled by the left's obsession with power for its own sake. Any Republican who votes to stop these projects should be brought to light, name names and possibly, have the RNC remove funding for their next elections.
We, the conservatives, have been silenced, shamed and shut-up by the extremely arrogant media and politicians on the left, for far too long. We need leadership and exposes' from our elected Republican politicians and we need it now.
Maybe... but I pegged you pretty good.
The only 'exposes' you will ever get from the Media will be about how bad Bush is or how the Republicans are corrupt and incompetent.
As far as your belief that the Republicans in the Legislature have this great power to expose the Rat intentions, it is only wishful thinking on your part.
Gutless RINOs reaping the fruits of their own impotence...
This is fun...how about:
The Socio-cons reaping the fruits of alienating moderates and independents.
(I love the 2006 mid-terms. They are a blank slate that everyone can project their particular biases upon.)
It is debatable how significant the effect was, but if you look at both FEC and independent polling data from this past November, self-identified Republican turnout was down, and Republicans who did turn out voted for Democrats in greater numbers than has been the case in recent years. Now it's up to conservatives to hold Republican's feet to the fire, and to hold the newly-elected Democrat majorities responsible for the consequences of their policies.
Just as an anecdote, I live in a very strong Republican district. While in line "checking out" of the polling station, you can always cast a sideways glance at the paper ballots that we use here in other folks hands. I have never, ever, seen so many people vote straight Democrat tickets. It was both depressing and instructive of what happens when the party you count on to represent your values abandons its principles - and yours.
In terms of how groups voted, there were slight, but very significant changes from 2002 to 2006 that spelled disaster for the GOP.
• More Republicans voted for Democrats (9 percent), than Democrats voted for Republicans (6 percent).
• More conservatives voted for Democrats (21 percent), than liberals voted for Republicans (10 percent).
• Nearly 30 percent (29 percent) of White Evangelicals voted for Democrats, and 54 percent of those who attend church weekly voted for Democrats.
• Among voters who thought that the scandals were "extremely important," 53 percent voted Democrat.
Though roughly the same percentage of evangelicals voted in 2006 as voted in 2002 (24 and 25 percent), there was a 2 percentage point drop in conservatives who voted (34 percent in 2002 compared with 32 percent in 2006). Also, there was an increase in the percentage of liberals who voted; in 2002, 17 percent of voters identified themselves as liberal compared to 21 percent in 2006.
As anyone here on FR can see, while there was a small drop of conservatives that turned out to vote (a 2% drop), there was a 4% INCREASE in liberal voters.
Those 2% of conservatives who did not vote are the stay at home, protest non-voters. 2% could easily have swung a number of states. It appears that more liberal voters realized how important these mid-terms were than conservative voters.
We get the politicians we deserve by our voting (or non-voting) actions.
>> we know from FReepers themselves, many of whom stated flatly that they were going to stay home and not vote
I practically lived here (lurking, anyway) during the run-up to the election. I recall many FReepers asking the rhetorical "why should I vote for the RINOs" during discussion threads. But I honestly do not recall many (if any) "flatly stating" that they were absolutely going to stay home and sit this one out.
Can you provide some examples in the forum of what you claim?
Or at least reduce "many of whom" to an actual ESTIMATE that we can compare with the total population of FR to get an idea of proportionality?
TIA
I love frustrated whiny RINOs complaining. It means we conservatives did our job by keeping them out of power in '06. Keep whining, RINO. That's the sure way to power in '08.
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