Senate Kills Bush Plan for Alaska Drilling
Apr 18 1:38pm ET
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a big defeat for the Bush administration's national energy plan, the Democratic-led U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a White House proposal to let oil companies drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Republicans failed to get the 60 votes needed under Senate rules to end debate on the controversial proposal and block a threatened filibuster by Democrats.
Drilling advocates were crushed in a vote of 54 to 46 on a procedural motion to end debate on the measure.
The administration and many Senate Republicans framed the ANWR debate as a national security issue, saying the up to 16 billion barrels of oil estimated in the refuge was crucial to reduce U.S. dependence on crude from unfriendly countries like Iraq.
ANWR, roughly the size of South Carolina, sprawls over 19 million acres, on Alaska's northeast coast. Republicans sought to open l2,000 acres of ANWR to drilling, an area equivalent to a large airport.
Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said the vote was an important test of Bush administration efforts to weaken environmental protections.
"We are just not going to allow Republicans to destroy the environment," Daschle told reporters.
"That's exactly what this issue has been all about from the very beginning, whether or not you protect the environment, whether or not you send a clear message that when it comes to protecting sensitive lands in this country you're going to do it or not," Daschle added.
WHITE HOUSE WANTS ENERGY BILL
President Bush, a former Texas oilman, made drilling in ANWR the centerpiece of his proposed U.S. energy policy. The White House plan also encourages more U.S. production of natural gas, coal and nuclear power.
"At a time when oil and gas prices are rising the Senate today missed an opportunity to lead America to greater energy independence," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.
The administration also will fight for ANWR drilling to be included in any final version of an energy bill, Fleischer said.
The House last year passed an energy bill that would allow drilling in the refuge. If the Senate completes an energy bill, lawmakers from both chambers would have to work out differences with the House version before a final plan could be sent to the president.
HEATED DEBATE OVER ANWR
During a two-day Senate debate on ANWR, Democrats said the refuge does not hold enough to oil to significantly reduce U.S. imports. Also, ANWR is home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife, that would be threatened by oil drilling and its heavy equipment, roads and buildings, they said.
Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts led the Democrats' move to kill the ANWR drilling measure. Both are expected to be Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2004.
The ANWR issue stirred heated debate.
"The so-called environmentalists are not interested in science, they are not interested in the health of the planet," said Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski, a Republican. "They know if we win ANWR -- and we will some day -- their chief fundraising issue goes away."
Other Republicans insisted that ANWR's oil reserves were needed more than ever because of the volatile Middle East.
"Our nation, whether we like or not...moves on oil," said Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico. "Absolutely nothing changes the stark fact that now and for the foreseeable future we need expanded supplies of oil and we are dangerously dependent on foreign sources."
The Senate, which aims to finish work on the energy bill by Tuesday, still has to consider about 40 other amendments, including ones on climate change and a multibillion dollar package of energy tax credits. |
