Posted on 09/22/2003 12:05:37 PM PDT by The_Victor
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers trying to craft an energy bill have decided to include a provision for oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge as part of the initial draft of the compromise legislation, congressional sources said today.
The GOP "discussion draft" will include a House-favored provision that would allow oil development of the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as long as the footprint of development is limited to 2,000 acres.
The draft language, which is sure to be strongly opposed by Democrats involved in the energy talks, was to be formally unveiled later Monday, said GOP aides familiar with the ongoing negotiations.
A number of Senate Democrats have vowed to block final approval of an energy package, using the parliamentary stalling tactic of a filibuster, if an ANWR drilling measure is part of the bill. It would take 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate and even ANWR drilling supporters say at this time they don't have that many votes.
However, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the chairman of the energy negotiations, and Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., head of the House negotiators, decided to incorporate the House-passed language authorizing drilling in the Arctic refuge in hopes of swaying enough senators to nullify the filibuster threat.
"Sen. Domenici has been consistent and remains so in support of opening ANWR. He strongly believes this is the right thing for jobs, our economy and our national security," said Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for the senator.
She said that Domenici knows that he may eventually have to drop the proposal if he is not convinced there are 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster. He "is not going to let this energy bill go down over one issue" whether it's ANWR or something else, said Funk.
Last week, Domenici said that "we're not going to let ANWR defeat a compromise energy bill."
Earlier this year drilling opponents got 52 senators to oppose development of the Arctic refuge's oil as drilling supporters came a dozen votes shy of the 60 that would be needed to overcome a filibuster. Last week 43 senators, including five Republicans, wrote letters to the energy conferees reiterating their opposition to ANWR drilling.
But drilling supporters hope to sway some of those senators by emphasizing the potential loss of widely popular programs if the energy bill fails to pass, including a requirement to use more corn-based ethanol, development of clean coal technologies and expansion of a program to help the poor pay energy bills.
The House, when it passed its energy blueprint last April, authorized oil exploration and development within ANWR's coastal plain as long as such activities do not disturb more than 2,000 acres of the tundra.
Proponents of drilling argue that the limits, as well as other environmental restrictions and use of modern technology, will provide adequate environmental safeguards. Critics of exploiting ANWR's oil argue that the 2,000-acre limit is meaningless because the area can be spread across the entire 1.5-million acres of the coastal plain, creating "a spider web" of development that would harm the pristine home to caribou, polar bears, musk oxen and migratory birds.
No one knows how much oil the coastal plain has. Federal estimates have ranged from 5.6 billion barrels (95 percent probability) to 16 billion barrels (5 percent probability) of technically recoverable oil. But environmentalists emphasize that at current oil prices much of that oil won't be worth drilling because of the high costs of development.
Good news, the GOP is not giving up on this.
It’s a sacrificial lamb - the first thing they’ll cave on during negotiations.
Now, if they could only do the same with their judicial nominees.
Clearly.
They don't have the stones to fight for judges, they don't have the stones to fight for this.
About all they do have the stones to fight for is their own skin.
Don't get your hopes up.
I think you just did. :)
Stop it dude, you're killing me.
Translation - We give up before the fight starts.
The "G" in GOP stands for "Glass Jaw".
Perhaps I should add "yet".
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