4 legs bad, 4 wheels good in demented quest for US oil

The Senate Energy Committee have agreed on a 13-9 vote to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling as part of a big budget bill to fund the Federal government.

The ANWR refuge, the size of South Carolina, covers 19 million acres in NE Alaska home to polar bears, musk oxen, caribou and migratory birds and is home (it is said to hold 10.2 Billion barrels of oil (High end estimates to date) as well , although little oil and gas exploration has taken place in ANWR). Only some 2,000 acres of the 1.5 mn. acre coastal plain will be home to production and support facilities, including airstrips and piers to hold up pipelines…it says here.

All Republicans except Gordon Smith of Oregon, voted in favour as did Democrats Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii (surprise !) also voted for drilling.

Pete Domenici, R . committee chairman said " "The time is ripe for ANWR. Global and national conditions mandate the environmentally-sound development of oil and gas in the Arctic. The Senate first passed ANWR legislation in 1996. If that hadn't been vetoed, I don't think we would be paying $3 a gallon for gasoline today. The hurricanes in the Gulf underscored what Congress has known for along time: We must produce more of our own oil and we must diversify the places where we produce it. We must do it for our economy and our energy security.

"It's past time to do this. I say let's get it done. I congratulate the senators on the committee who recognize this. I look forward to reporting the budget bill out of the Budget Committee next week and passing it out of the Senate early next month."

At the committee meeting, 3 amendments were offered and defeated. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D.Washington, wanted an amendment for payment to the U.S. Treasury of 50 % of revenues from oil/ gas leasing and production on the Coastal Plain. Senator Ron Wyden, D.Oregon, asked for prohibition of the exportation of oil and gas produced under ANWR leases. Ranking Member Jeff Bingaman, D.New Mexico, suggested a limit to the authorization of oil and gas development on the Coastal Plain in the same manner as other units of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The proposal will form part of a bigger budget bill to fund the federal government (US$ 2.4 B n), which the Senate Budget Committee will vote through next week and the full U.S. Senate (thus ensuring no filibustering, and further delays) the following week.

Byron Dorgan D. of N. Dakota said the Republicans were "short-circuiting the process" by attaching ANWR drilling to a budget bill. Which everyone knows is true but will ignore.

According to the Energy Information Administration if Congress approved drilling in the Arctic refuge this year, oil would not begin flowing until about 2015.

So as GM / Ford post monster losses, layoffs, the SUV rules and the wilderness has a "For Sale" sign over it.


Recent blogs on same topic here