YAY Rebublicans!

[chequita guevara]

Six Republican Senators Turn Against Bush on ANWR


Jan 31, 4:31 pm ET

By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling suffered a major blow on Friday as six Republican senators said they opposed inserting language into a must-pass budget bill that would give oil companies access to the refuge.

ANWR, which is home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife, sprawls across 19 million acres of Alaska's northeast corner.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed energy legislation last year that would have opened ANWR to drilling, but a Democratic-led Senate did not pass similar legislation.

The White House contends that the refuge's potential 16 billion barrels of crude must be tapped to help reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports from unfriendly countries like Iraq.

But many Democrats and environmentalists oppose drilling, saying the administration should cut oil imports by boosting the mileage standards of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles.

Six of the Senate's 51 Republicans, including former presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona, on Friday announced they would not go along with a plan to tack ANWR drilling language onto a massive spending bill this spring that would enact the new 2004 budget for the federal government.

"Because the opening of the Arctic refuge to drilling raises a host of policy concerns, including serious environmental ramifications, we do not believe this issue should be injected in the budget process," the lawmakers said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles.

The letter is the latest twist in a two-year legislative battle over drilling in the Alaskan refuge.

The Democratic-led Senate last year soundly defeated efforts to open the refuge, when drilling supporters fell short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on the controversial proposal and allow a final vote on the measure.

DRILLING BACKERS DON'T WANT A FILIBUSTER

To get around a filibuster this time around, supporters of opening the refuge want to attach drilling language to must-pass legislation to fund the 2004 budget for the federal government. They argue that such language is appropriate for budget legislation because of the fees the government would collect from leasing tracts in the refuge to oil companies.

Under Senate rules, budget legislation cannot be filibustered and only 50 votes would be needed to approve the bill and an attached ANWR drilling provision.

In addition to McCain, the letter was signed by Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, and Mike DeWine of Ohio. The six were part of a group of eight Republicans who crossed the aisle last year to vote against ANWR drilling.

In his State of the Union speech to Congress earlier this week, President Bush urged lawmakers to pass legislation enacting his national energy plan, which includes drilling in the refuge.

Two Democratic presidential hopefuls, Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, oppose ANWR drilling and have promised to filibuster any energy bill that would open the refuge.

A new poll released on Friday by The Wilderness Society showed that by a two-to-one margin, voters reject opening the Arctic refuge to oil drilling, even in the case of impending war with Iraq and a possible cut-off of some of America's oil supplies from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Senate Energy Committee announced on Friday a series of hearings that will focus on the energy challenges facing the United States and will also guide the development of comprehensive energy legislation.

"My top priorities will be hammering out a robust and diverse energy bill for floor consideration this summer," said panel chairman Pete Domenici.

"Right now, America is faced with energy challenges and opportunities. We are on the brink of war in the Middle East and dangerously dependent on Middle East oil," he added.

The panel will hold three hearings in February on oil and natural supplies, and energy production on federal lands -- which could include drilling in the Arctic refuge.

[Docfeelgood]

intresting

[Felch]

It is dishonest to do such a thing. I support ANWR drilling, but I don't like cheap tricks.

[Ned]

I agree we should put this legislation into a separate bill so that the debate can be on the record. The people have to see the debate and make up their own minds who is right.

[DuncanK]

I'm against the drilling. I don't think we really need the oil. Good for McCain and the other Republicans. As far as the budget trick, It's called pork barrel, and Republicans and Democrats do it every ****ing budget process.

[Oerdin]

There certainly are some dirty underhanded Republicans. Of course every party has a few bad apples though.

[Guynemer]

I'm conflicted about Snowe, Chafee, McCain, etc.

On the one hand, I wonder how they can stay in the Republican party when they have so many fundamental disagreements with the party leadership, platform, etc.

On the other, I think the Republicans desperately need these voices of moderation, and the country would be screwed without them.

Much the same could be said about folks like Breaux and Miller on the other side of the aisle...

[MrFun]

I oppose any such drilling.

[Zkribbler]

John McCain, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lincoln Chafee, Peter Fitzgerald, and Mike DeWine have learned the power of being in the center.

It's like when Sandra Day O'Conner was controlling the Supreme Court in all those 4-1-4 decisions, where her single vote in concurence was setting the course for American constitutional law.

[Bosh]

On the one hand, I wonder how they can stay in the Republican party when they have so many fundamental disagreements with the party leadership, platform, etc.

Because the entire Maine Republican party is like that, for example the Repbulican candidate in my district was adamantly pro-choice.

[Nubclear]

YAY Rebublicans!!

[chequita guevara]

Sux to be dyslexic.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Sux to be dyslexic.

I know Chegitz. Itll be alright, though.

[Sava]

"Dyslexia cure for found!"

Seriously though, drilling... bad

If Congress had passed the bill in 2001 requiring a mandatory increase in the Fuel Economy standards for SUV's/light trucks; the savings in gasoline in one year would be more than all the oil that could be extracted from the ANWR.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Screw mandatory blah blahs. THere will always be a way around them. We should just tax vehicles whos MPG is above a certain point.

[Par4]

Stop it from the source, improve the milage-

It's about damn time!

And how about we knock a ton off the overall weight of an SUV, they do kill people in cars, the damage in car-SUV wrecks is so much heavier for the car.

Now if I pray for some more federal mass transit money, and some regional growth planning...

[HolyWarrior]

So you're in favor of Middle Eastern oil?

[orange]

The voice of reason in the Republican party. I knew there had to be one.

[Urban Ranger]

Evil, evil Dubya, he's just a crony of Big Oil

[Willem]

Originally posted by HolyWarrior
So you're in favor of Middle Eastern oil?

You wouldn't need nearly as much Middle East oil if vehicles were more fuel efficient. SUVs are gas guzzlers, yet they're all over the place.

I think we should even go so far as to ban eight cylinder vehicles, expect in certain circumstances, like auto racing, commercial and emergency vehicles. Do people really need all that power when there's speed limits everywhere? Six cylinders is more than ample for highway driving.