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House members left town for the year, leaving the Senate to determine the fates of a massive defense spending bill and a budget-trimming package, both of which the House passed in the early morning hours yesterday. In the Senate, Democrats are vowing to block the defense spending bill unless Republicans drop a provision that would allow oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Senate Republican leaders late yesterday filed a motion to limit debate and force a final vote on the defense bill. Senators will vote on the motion tomorrow. Democrats are working to round up...

Hi, If the last month or so have demonstrated anything, with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers and the sudden GOP actions to cut federal spending, it shows that when the Republican Party hears from conservatives and Americans they can suddenly develop the backbone to do the right thing. Now the Republicans, particularly a cadre of "moderates," need to hear from us in no uncertain terms that we want to fight terrrorism by drilling for oil in Alaska and want to at least try to move toward more energy independence. In this post, I have three main items: 1) The names...

The Appalachian mountains are buzzing with the sounds of oil drilling. Most of the 900 or so wells drilled in Kentucky this year won't produce more than a barrel or two of oil a day. But with prices around 60 dollars a barrel, those little wells are pulling in big profits, especially when they also pump natural gas. With oil prices now double what they were two years ago, the US Congress has called hearings to address charges of "price-gouging." The pinch at the pump is causing some economists to warn that consumers will have to reduce discretionary spending while...

House GOP leaders agreed last night to strip plans to permit oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in the offshore continental shelf from a $54 billion budget-cutting measure, probably securing the votes to pass the bill today. The move is a blow to President Bush, who has made expanded oil exploration a priority since he took office. Lawmakers said the White House applied pressure yesterday to Republicans to save the drilling provisions, especially in Alaska, even wooing conservative Democrats who have steadfastly opposed the GOP budget package.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Energy Committee voted on Wednesday to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling as part of a broad budget bill to fund the federal government. Tapping the refuge's billions of barrels of crude oil is a key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan to boost domestic production. Environmental groups and many Democrats oppose drilling, saying that instead of threatening the habitat of wildlife in ANWR, lawmakers should look at ways to cut oil consumption with more fuel-efficient vehicle standards. The refuge, which is about the size of South Carolina, sprawls across...

The vote currently stands at 210-212, with 12 votes outstanding, but I think the 12 are all out of town. They need to switch two votes from "no" to "yes" in order to win. They've kept the vote open now for almost 40 minutes. I am not totally sure what is in this bill, but all the votes in favor are Republican votes. Meanwhile, the dems keep shouting for the vote to be ended....

Now, let me give you an example. Here in Florida, I just had this story sent to me. This is from today's Tallahassee Democrat. Is that what the name of the paper is? Yeah, the Tallahassee Democrat. The headline story: "Nelson Calls for Freeze on Gasoline Prices -- Senator Warns of New Bid for Drilling in Gulf." That's... Warns of new drilling in Gulf! This illustrates the point I wish to open with. Liberals have absolutely no answer to the gasoline issue. The Democrats and the Sierra Club-inspired environmentalist wackos and liberals have no answer to the gasoline issue. Bill...

WASHINGTON - With oil prices nearing $60 a barrel, the good will toward Florida finally ran dry. After agreeing last week to maintain the existing moratorium on oil and gas drilling off Florida's shores, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday moved forward with conducting an inventory of energy reserves in all U.S. waters, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico. By a vote of 52-44, the Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Florida's senators that would have deleted the inventory from the comprehensive energy bill now moving through the Senate. The energy bill still must pass, and the Senate will have to...

WASHINGTON - The House voted late Wednesday to allow oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge as part of a broad energy bill that Democrats said would funnel billions of dollars to highly profitable energy companies while doing little to promote conservation or ease gasoline prices. The bill's sponsors said oil from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as much as a million barrels a day, will be needed to help curtail the country's growing dependence on oil imports. Opponents argued the oil wouldn't be available for a decade and even then at levels that would not significantly affect oil prices...

JUNEAU, Alaska - The tiny north coast town of Kaktovik officially supports responsible development of oil and gas. But many reacted warily to the Senate vote to allow drilling in their back yard. Even with just 284 residents, Kaktovik is the largest town on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain. Mayor Lon Sonsalla said just about everyone has concerns about changes that could accompany any work in the 1.5 million-acre stretch, where billions of barrels of crude oil are believed to rest beneath the tundra. "We are now given notice that we have to be on our toes," said...

In 1957, Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton opened up 20 million acres on the North Slope of Alaska for commercial oil and gas exploration and drilling. This was in addition to the already established Naval Petroleum Reserve (NPR) which included another 23 million acres. Even with oil plentiful and cheap, Washington recognized that the United States needed to strive for energy independence, and the cold, barren and relatively uninhabited tundra of Alaska must have seemed like a great place to drill...

The US Senate has given its de facto approval to a plan to open up a remote wildlife refuge in the northern state of Alaska to oil drilling. Senators voted 51-49 against an amendment which would have struck the measure from the federal budget. The plan has long been a key part of President Bush's energy plan, as a means to reduce US reliance on imports.

Alaska drilling to have chilling effect Friday, February 4, 2005 NORTH HALEDON - Warren Smith made his first visit to "the lower 48" this week, leaving his small Yukon village to speak to groups around North Jersey about his people, the indigenous Gwich'in Athabaskan, their 1,000-year reliance on caribou, and federal legislation that could change their way of life.Smith was joined by Jillian Morrissey, an environmental activist who has spent the past three years photographing Alaska's wildlife and fighting to protect the caribou and the Gwich'in people from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.Wednesday night the pair brought...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Beijing Petroleum Machinery Factory (BPMF) under the CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) signed an agreement with an US company on Thursday to provide top-drive oil-drilling equipment which China independently developed and which represents the most advanced level of oil-drilling technology and electromechanical equipment for oil industry. This is China's first export of major oil-drilling equipment to the US. Top-drive oil-drilling equipment is one of the front technologies in oil-drilling engineering, said Ding Shubai, vice president of the Petrochemical Engineering Research Institute. By far only a few companies are able to produce...

he ice-cloaked Arctic Ocean was once apparently a warm, biologically brewing basin so rich in sinking organic material that some scientists examining fresh evidence pulled from a submerged ridge near the North Pole say the seabed may now hold significant oil and gas deposits. This is just one of many findings from a pioneering expedition that in late summer sent dozens of scientists and technicians on three icebreakers - one with a drilling rig nine stories tall - into the drifting, crunching plates of sea ice to retrieve the first long-term record of climate and ocean conditions there. The expedition...

Tauzin unveils energy plan Incentives for deep wells in coastal shallows included By PATRICK COURREGES pcourreges@theadvocate.com Acadiana bureau Billy Tauzin III, a Republican candidate for Louisiana's 3rd District congressional seat, said Tuesday he wants to give oil and gas companies reason to dig a little deeper closer to shore. Tax breaks and relief from royalty requirements for businesses willing to go to the extra expense of drilling deeper inshore and in the shallow coastal area of the Gulf of Mexico are part of the energy plan Tauzin unveiled this week. Tauzin, a Thibodaux Republican and lobbyist for BellSouth, is one...

PRUDHOE BAY, Alaska — Just mentioning "ANWR" (search) and oil drilling in the same breath is bound to touch off a controversy. But the governor of Alaska says it's a non-issue because he plans to search for oil on state land just off the shore from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

http://jamestown.org THE DRAGON'S DRIVE FOR CASPIAN OILhttp://jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=395&issue_id=2952&article_id=236701 By John C.k. Daly China 's insatiable energy thirst is causing it to undertake a global search for energy supplies to sustain its booming economy. Beijing has injected itself into the complex Caspian chess match to ensure itself as large a share as possible of resources being developed there. This complex political and economic maneuvering forces China to deal with the Caspian's five riparian states - Russia , Azerbaijan , Iran , Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan . Analysts estimate that within ten to fifteen years China will consume as much oil as the U.S....

ANCHORAGE – Southwestern Alaska's Bristol Bay, site of the world's biggest sockeye salmon runs, was long considered too valuable to risk to oil rigs. Like the California and Florida coasts, this part of Alaska has been under a national leasing moratorium to spare it from the threat of spilled crude. But now, eight years after a federal move to buy back oil leases in the vast Bay, residents and state officials are doing what would have seemed unthinkable not long ago: inviting oil firms back. The reversal reflects the fallen fortunes of Alaska's once-powerful salmon industry, and the economic challenges...

A group supporting the opening of a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for "environmentally safe" oil exploration and drilling is urging Americans to support a congressional effort to include a provision to authorize it in an upcoming energy bill. J. Zane Walley, executive director of the Alamogordo, N.M.-based Environmental Conservation Organization, a property-rights group, is warning energy prices could climb to astronomical levels if the U.S. continues to import most of its oil. Oil exploration rig in largely uninhabitable area of Alaska National Wildlife Refuge "In about a decade, almost 70 percent of our oil and...

Blackout or 'greenout'? Posted: August 20, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Oil is the lifeblood of our industrial society. But it's been under attack since the early 1970s. Environmentalists told us we'd all choke from the exhaust fumes back then. Then they lied about global warming. Then they lied about the ozone hole. Then they complained about oil drilling in Alaska. Then they complained about drilling for natural gas. Then they complained about oil drilling offshore. Then they complained about reliance on foreign oil and told us we must conserve. (They're right about the dangers of foreign oil....

<p>SOME BAD ideas just won't go away. After years spent ridding California's coast of the threat of oil drilling, the concept is back.</p> <p>The new threat was sold on the Senate floor as a "study" of the Pacific seabed off the central coast. Senate proponents from oil-friendly states claim they only want an inventory of likely deposits, nothing more.</p>

The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge contains an oil deposit larger than anything Jed Clampett ever dreamed of. But for two decades it has been off-limits to developers.That may end soon if drilling fans win a crucial Senate budget vote expected later this week. A win would remove the main barrier to drilling."This is the real deal here," said one oil industry lobbyist.Yet surprisingly, it's not the looming war in the Middle East or gas prices at $1.72 a gallon and rising that made Congress consider it. Rather, a vote is happening because drilling supporters are using a highly unusual parliamentary...

Energy: Calling all roughnecks. Break out the harnesses and hard hats. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge might happen yet. GOP strategists have a plan.Attempts to recover oil from ANWR have been foiled for years by Democratic filibusters, which require 60 votes in the Senate to stop extended debate and vote on legislation.But there's a way around this, a legislative procedure that would render ANWR drilling legislation filibuster-proof. By attaching a drilling provision to the annual budget reconciliation package, a simple 51-vote majority is needed. It's a strategy that's been tried before. In 1995, Congress approved drilling as part...

Democrats Vow to Filibuster Alaska Oil Drilling Wed Apr 10, 5:03 PM ET By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman (news - web sites) of Connecticut promised on Wednesday to filibuster any move to amend a pending energy bill to allow drilling in pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Republican lawmakers are citing Iraq's decision on Monday to cut off oil exports for 30 days to protest the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as another reason why the United States must be able to tap ANWR's reserves and become less dependent on foreign crude. Lieberman criticized Republicans for using the Middle...

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