Final ANWR vote could have nothing to do with drilling

Washington, D.C. - When Congress returns to work this week, it begins heading toward what could be a final showdown on allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While ANWR drilling supporters have a strong shot at success, they could also be foiled for reasons having nothing to do with the refuge.

For ANWR drilling supporters like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the next few months could bring great triumph. After all, this fall Congress will consider a budget bill that's likely to allow ANWR oil drilling to take place, and that budget bill, because of parliamentary procedure, cannot be blocked or filibustered in the U.S. Senate as other bills can.

But, Murkowski herself says that she faces a tough road ahead to get ANWR approved. “There's going to be a lot in the reconciliation bill for people not to like, and so it will be a real task for the delegation, a real juggling act, to try to keep track of how many people we have,” Murkowski said.

Murkowski's concern about the ANWR vote is valid, because even if there are enough votes of support to allow for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, there may not be enough votes of support for the entire budget itself.

It is true that because the budget bill cannot be filibustered, ANWR opponents have less legislative ammunition than they normally do to stop drilling from taking place. But because ANWR is likely to be included in a budget bill, the budget itself could be a problem for ANWR supporters. Since there's much more than ANWR likely to be in the bill, it could fail for reasons unrelated to oil drilling.

That would no doubt please environmentalists like Peter Rafle of the Wilderness Society, who says advocates will argue why the budget is a bad one.

“In addition to language that would open the Arctic Refuge to drilling, the budget reconciliation is likely to include big cuts to Medicaid, to student loan programs and to food stamps and other programs for the poor and elderly,” Rafle said. “And I think the more people hear about that, the more concerned they're going to be about this bill passing.”

The battle is expected to begin at the committee level this month and the final key Senate vote could occur toward the end of October. For those for and against drilling, the days ahead could be a nail-biter.

A final vote in the Senate could also occur later than October, too. The Senate is the key to success or failure for ANWR drilling supporters. Both the House of Representatives and President Bush already strongly support drilling, and Bush would sign legislation into law that would make drilling a reality.

Thanks for posting. I was wondering what was going on behind the scenes on the ANWR issue. It had been quiet for a while and I should have known the de_moc_rats (congressional vermin)critters would be working hard to sabotage any bill that was good for America.

"a lot in the (budget) reconciliation bill for people not to like" --Sen. Lisa Murkowski

ANWR might even set some sort of a precident and force opening up other areas of our vast reserves for domestic production, like offshore Atlantic City, NJ, next.

The wealthy east coast dem senators don't care about the caribou, or preserving a fragile environment,
...unless it's in their own backyards that is. That's what this is all about. There are vast deposits of nat'l gas offshore there too. They've known about this since the early '80's and have blocked our nations energy independence since then. They would rather have us working folks paying through the nose at the pumps and our country being totally dependent on and enriching foreign oil cartels, than have to even think of having to possibly see a single drill-ship off their own elite states shores.
Drill ANWR NOW! Expedite production as soon as the first wells are in. Drill offshore East coast NOW. Let's work together for the good of the country and our independence. We must have this ANWR drilling started soon. Repubs and anyone else that's tired of the prices at the pumps and to heat their homes should join together across party lines in a grass roots campaign to flood the senate offices with faxes and e-mails and letters with our demands to allow it. Spitz'

From the same source, a couple days later...

Katrina may affect ANWR plans
by Seth Linden - Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Washington, D.C. - Hurricane Katrina's aftermath could affect what happens to the issue of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this year in Congress. Depending on how Congress reacts to the Katrina disaster, a budget measure that could allow ANWR drilling to become a reality might be cast aside.

With so many questions remaining unanswered about the federal response to Katrina and with the need for more money to assist in the crisis, Congress is back at work in an atmosphere different than it was before it left for its August recess. For one, priorities have changed and it's possible a key budget measure that could allow ANWR oil drilling may fail to become a reality.

“Katrina is the driving force behind jettisoning the reconciliation bill and everything that goes with it, including ANWR,” said Michael Franc (left) of The Heritage Foundation.

Franc wants a budget bill to go through and thinks at the end of the day, it will. But, he still has his doubts because Katrina may bring greater objection to the budget and the items it would address besides ANWR, like Medicaid funding for the poor and food stamps.

“That pressure would have been there anyway. Now they found a new reason to try to bring the same kind of pressure to bear. The question is whether using Katrina as a shield to stop these changes is sufficient to win the day. Prior to Katrina, those kinds of arguments against doing anything, they would have fallen short,” said Franc.

The budget is crucial for ANWR drilling supporters because unlike other bills, it cannot be procedurally blocked in the Senate with a filibuster. So what may not be affected? Military base closings, the plan to close or realign bases throughout the country could stay on schedule.

Obviously, Hurricane Katrina is now a major priority for the White House and may be for sometime to come. Despite that fact, one military base closing expert says that the base closing schedule will continue as expected.

Thursday the Base Realignment and Closure Commission is required to hand over its recommendations to the president. Analyst Christopher Hellman expects business as normal.

“The president himself may very well be thinking about other things, but the people who care about base closures over at the Pentagon are very focused on what's going on. And they'll be the ones advising the president,” said Hellmann (left) of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

And that president, of course, wants ANWR drilling. But in light of Katrina, that issue probably is not first on his mind either. It's also possible this year that because of Katrina, the president's plan to revamp Social Security may not go through.

I'd love to claim it as original, but it goes back at least to Tom Lehrer in one of his songs, something about

"I have a friend who"s such an individualist he spells his name 'HEN 3 R Y.' The '3' is silent of course."

Of course my favorite Tom Lehrer songs are "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" and "We Will All Go Together When We Go." I keep looking for threads I can drop casual references to lines from those two into.

I've always imagined that Tom Lehrer and Charles Addams enjoyed each others work.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.