Senate Votes to Allow Arctic Drilling...

yahoo.com ^ | March 16, 2004 | JOSEF HEBERT

[crushelits]

WASHINGTON - Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush (news - web sites).
he Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year's budget, preventing opponents from using a filibuster — a tactic that has blocked repeated past attempts to open the Alaska refuge to oil companies.

The action, assuming Congress agrees on a budget, clears the way for approving drilling in the refuge later this year, drilling supporters said.

The oil industry has sought for more than two decades to get access to what is believed to be billions of barrels of oil beneath the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the northern eastern corner of Alaska.

Environmentalists have fought such development and argued that despite improve environmental controls a web of pipelines and drilling platforms would harm calving caribou, polar bears and millions of migratory birds that use the coastal plain.

Bush has called tapping the reserve's oil a critical part of the nation's energy security and a way to reduce America's reliance on imported oil, which account for more than half of the 20 million barrels of crude use daily. The Alaska refuge could supply as much as 1 million barrels day at peak production, drilling supporters said.

"We won't see this oil for 10 years. It will have minimal impact," argued Sen. Maria Cantwell (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., a co-sponsor of the amendment that would have stripped the arctic refuge provision from the budget document. It is "foolish to say oil development and a wildlife refuge can coexist," she said.

Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., argued that more oil would be saved if Congress enacted an energy policy focusing on conservation, more efficient cars and trucks and increased reliance on renewable fuels and expanded oil development in the deep-water Gulf where there are significant reserves.

"The fact is (drilling in ANWR) is going to be destructive," said Kerry.

But drilling proponents argued that modern drilling technology can safeguard the refuge and still tap the likely — though not yet certain — 10.4 billion barrels of crude in the refuge.

"Some people say we ought to conserve more. They say we ought to conserve instead of producing this oil," said Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., "But we need to do everything. We have to conserve and produce where we can."

The vote Wednesday contrasted with the last time the Senate took up the ANWR drilling issue two years ago. Then, an attempt to include it in the budget was defeated. But drilling supporters gained strength last November when Republicans picked up three additional seats, all senators who favored drilling in the refuge.

[Carry_Okie]

That photograph contains bison.

AFIK, there are no bison in Alaska.

[odoso]

How much of a supply would 10.4 billion barrels equal? 1 month? 6 months? 5 years? 20 years??? Anyone know?

[Williams]

Postcard picture accompanying this has zero to do with the small coastal ANWR drilling area, an inhospitable wasteland which, by the way, the caribou often skip altogether and stay in Canada. Notice the picture is of animals not found in the driling area. And they say the reserve is "ecologically rich." How about the fact it is "oil rich" and we have a superpower that needs some oil?

[crushelits]

and some oil...ahahahah....

[WestTexasWend]

"We won't see this oil for 10 years. It will have minimal impact," argued Sen. Maria Cantwell..."

But the House of Saud & Co. will see this vote today, Maria, which should have an immediate impact on prices.

[yobid]

Yes. It's about time. Now we need to build a few new refineries. Make way enviro-terrorist!

[My Favorite Headache]

bingo

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

10.4 billion / 20 million (our current daily usage) would give about 520 days (1.5 years).

[ArGee]

How about the fact it is "oil rich" and we have a superpower that needs some oil?

Are you implying that a nation full of people is the moral equivalent of a herd of caribou?

Shalom.

[Williams]

"We won't see this oil for 10 years. It will have minimal impact,"

Glad to know she doesn't plan on being here in ten years when the energy crisis is even worse, but some of us have kids.

[sure_fine]

Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., argued that more oil would be saved if Congress enacted an energy policy focusing on conservation, more efficient cars and trucks and increased reliance on renewable fuels and expanded oil development in the deep-water Gulf where there are significant reserves.




basically, get more political play out of it

[LostDog]

Those are actually Democrats dressed up as bison.

Kennedy didn't have to prep very much...

[wouldntbprudent]

yahoo should be ashamed of themselves for running this misleading pic with this story.

bad yahoo.

[areafiftyone]

The three Democrats that voted for it are being flooded with hate mail by DUers - Landrieu, Akaka and Inouye! We should flood them with thank you mail!

[Space Ghost]

actually, these are musk ox

[Williams]

1.5 years of the TOTAL oil usage of the United States of America is one heck of a lot of oil.

[Pyro7480]

According to the Yahoo! caption, they are musk oxen.

[jonascord]

I think they are musk ox, which do live in the ANWR, as if it matters.

[sure_fine]

I believe those are Musk Oxen