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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (1029)	11/15/2001 12:13:37 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 15516

Reuters Politics News Republicans to Push Oil Drilling in Stimulus Bill Nov 14 5:39pm ET By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans launched a new campaign on Wednesday to open an Alaskan wilderness to oil drilling by attaching an energy measure to a crucial economic stimulus package before the Senate. The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a pristine wilderness in northern Alaska, has been a long-running fight between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. Republicans say the refuge could yield billions of barrels of crude oil that would reduce U.S. dependence on imports. Democrats contend the wilderness area should not be sacrificed because huge amounts of oil could be saved with stricter fuel efficiency standards. Republicans will try to amend the $66 billion stimulus measure by attaching part of the broad energy bill passed by the House of Representatives in August. The House legislation would offer incentives to boost U.S. oil, natural gas and coal production as well as opening the refuge to drilling. Sen. Larry Craig, Republican of Idaho, said he formally filed on Wednesday a stripped-down version of the House energy bill as an amendment to the economic stimulus legislation. The Senate began debate this week on whether the economic package should include extra unemployment benefits and subsidized health insurance for laid-off workers or focus mostly on business tax cuts to help the sluggish U.S. economy. "We will debate energy on the stimulus package," Craig told reporters on Capitol Hill. "Who determines the price of gasoline in America today? Foreigners from outside our country," he added. WHITE HOUSE SUPPORT The White House signaled its support for the Republican action. Vice President Dick Cheney urged the Senate to include the energy bill in the economic stimulus package. "It (the stimulus bill) ought to be coupled, as well, with a good energy program," Cheney said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Cheney said it would be "foolish in the extreme" for the United States not to boost its oil production. "We're dependent upon a somewhat fragile uncertain part of the world for a big part of our oil imports," Cheney said. Republicans said they would prefer to vote on the energy measure as stand-alone legislation, but the Senate's Democratic leadership has refused to schedule such a vote. Some $32 billion in energy tax credits and incentives and credits were stripped from the House energy bill before offering it as amendment to improve the measure's chance of passing the Senate, Craig said. Craig said he would not hold up the economic package, and would withdraw his amendment if a bipartisan agreement on a stimulus plan emerged. In that event, he said, he would attach the energy language to an agricultural spending bill when lawmakers return from Thanksgiving recess. "If we have a bipartisan stimulus package on the floor of the Senate to vote on, we would not offer the amendment," he said. GREENS, ROBERT REDFORD OPPOSE DRILLING Green groups that oppose drilling in the Alaska refuge stepped up their publicity campaign by holding a news conference with Hollywood legend Robert Redford. The actor, who serves on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said more than two million Americans have written letters and e-mails urging the government to keep the refuge off limits to drilling. "I don't feel there is an open, honest debate on this issue, which is what I think the American people deserve and should get," said Redford, joined by several lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Sporting a checkered gray coat, purple tie and blue shirt, the 64-year-old Redford said opening up the pristine refuge would harm wildlife and do little to reduce oil imports. Some Senate Democrats have threatened to filibuster any attempt to let energy companies drill in the 19-million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat, again warned on Wednesday that he would filibuster legislation that allows drilling in the refuge. "This is the greatest attempt to sting the American people except for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, referring to one of Redford's most famous movies. "We can and will stop them," added Lieberman. The federal government has estimated that the Alaskan refuge could hold as much as 16 billion barrels of crude oil, enough to replace the amount of crude the United States imports from Iraq for 70 years. Critics say it would take at least seven years for oil production to begin, and that the drilling equipment and risk of a spill would threaten polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife.