U.S. House Again Votes to Drill in Arctic Refuge

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, May 25, 2006 (ENS) – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation to allow oil drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), but even proponents acknowledge the vote was largely symbolic. The measure faces an uphill battle in the Senate, which has in the past blocked standalone legislation to open the refuge.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 225-201, with 27 Democrats joining the majority of the body’s Republicans in favor of the legislation. It is the fifth time the House has passed legislation to open the refuge.

But proponents in the Senate would have to muster 60 votes to derail an inevitable filibuster and pass the bill – something they have repeatedly failed to do.

"Everyone knows this bill is dead on arrival in the U.S. Senate," said Representative Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat.

The fate of the measure in the Senate was one of the few – if not the only- area of even partial agreement during the contentious debate.

Congressman Don Young represents Alaska, which would benefit from oil and gas production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Office of the Congressman)

"They must have a gas station over there," Young told colleagues.

Supporters said high gasoline prices and the nation’s rising dependence on foreign sources of oil are justification for drilling in ANWR, which is believed to hold as much as 10 billion barrels of oil.

"We have had this debate many, many times before," said House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, a California Republican and lead sponsor of the bill. "Frankly this is about a lot more than just opening up ANWR."

Pombo said opponents are unrealistic about the nation’s ability to wean itself off oil and ignore the merits of increased domestic supply.

"You have this pie in the sky that we are going to invent a 100 mile per gallon carburetor and all of a sudden our problems are going to go away," he said. "We need to develop energy here at home and that involves more fossil fuels because that is what powers our nation … we can’t say no to everything."

Critics said the measure, which was brought up under a closed rule that precluded the offering of any amendments and limited debate to one hour, was all about politics and reflects an energy strategy overly focused on the supply side of the equation.

"This is all about the election," said Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat. "The majority wants to pretend they are doing something meaningful."

One of the few Republicans to speak against the bill, New York Representative Sherwood Boehlert, told colleagues they should not just oppose the bill, but "ought to be ashamed of it."

Boehlert criticized the Congress for not voting on "a single conservation measure since gasoline hit $3.00 a gallon … even though poll after poll has shown that conservation measures are the preferred options of the American people."

"Is there any greater evidence that we are, as President Bush has said, addicted to oil?" Boehlert added. "Perhaps we have forgotten that our constituents are people, not companies."

The oil beneath the refuge is not worth the potential harm to a pristine, biologically diverse wilderness tucked far in the northeast corner of Alaska, said Representative Lois Capps, a California Democrat.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Photo courtesy USFWS)

Created in 1960 by Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, the refuge is inhabited by more than 100 species of wildlife and birds, including caribou, polar bears, wolves, grizzly bears, musk oxen, and arctic foxes.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter expanded the refuge but allowed drilling in the coastal plan if Congress granted approval.

Republicans touted new drilling techniques and said ANWR’s oil could be tapped with minimal impact to the environment.

"This is not a false choice between environmental protection and energy production," said Representative Jim Gibbons, a Nevada Republican. "With advancements in technology we can strike a delicate balance between the two."

"In my home town of Arlington, Texas, right now there are drilling rigs within 300 feet of homes," added Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican. "And you are telling me in Alaska we can’t drill a couple of hundred wells? It just doesn’t make sense."

Representative Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, said a recent spill at an Alaskan oil pipeline, which dumped some 200,000 gallons of oil onto the tundra, is "a timely caution" against opening the refuge to drilling.

It would take years to get any oil out of the refuge, added Representative Ed Markey, who cited U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates that even at its peak ANWR oil may reduce oil dependence by three percent and affect gasoline prices by only about a penny per gallon by 2025.

"We are debating a bill which won’t produce the first barrel of oil for 10 years and it will come from a pristine wildlife refuge," said Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. "That just shows you how bankrupt the Republican energy strategy is."