NYT: Senate Gearing Up for Fight Over Oil Drilling in Alaska (51 votes?)

[DeepModem Mom]

Senate Gearing Up for Fight Over Oil Drilling in Alaska
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: March 9, 2005


WASHINGTON, March 8 - After years of watching Democrats block President Bush's plan to allow oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, Senate Republicans say they are planning a legislative maneuver to push it through that would avoid the threat of filibusters, which have killed the measure in the past.

The maneuver, which senators and Congressional aides said would be made public Wednesday as part of the Senate budget resolution, would open the door to drilling with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the 60 required to block a filibuster. The same move failed two years ago, but with 55 Republican senators - four more than before - proponents of the drilling say they have fresh hope that Congress will vote this year to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a central component of Mr. Bush's energy policy.

"The people who are for this, ANWR, have to have 51 votes," said Senator Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican and champion of the drilling provision, using the acronym (pronounced AN-war) for the refuge. "The people who are against it can take it out with 51 votes. All we're saying is, that seems pretty American, pretty fair."...

***

The debate over drilling centers on 1.5 million acres of coastal plain, part of the larger 19-million-acre Arctic refuge. Proponents of drilling, including Alaskan development interests and the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group representing oil companies, say drilling would reduce dependency on foreign oil. And the oil industry estimates that drilling would be confined to 2,000 acres. Opponents say drilling would threaten caribou and destroy one of the last unspoiled habitats in the United States....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/09/politics/09arctic.html

[Coastie for Truth]

1. Vote No Unless It Includes CAFE (35->40 MPG) quick phase in

I e-mailed Boxer, Feinstein, and Lofgren

"Vote No Unless It Includes CAFE (35->40 MPG) Quick Phase In"

[Mother Jones]

2. PLEASE

call your senators and push for them to vote NO!

[420inTN]

3. kick

:kick:

[Moderator]

4. kick to combine

[hue]

5. GOP RENEWS EFFORT TO DRILL IN ARCTIC

**************
March 10, 2005

Times Headlines

GOP Renews Drive to Drill in Arctic Wildlife Refuge


By Edwin Chen and Richard Simon, Times Staff Writers

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As President Bush was out promoting his stalled plan to allow drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge, the leader of a Senate committee said Wednesday that he would try a new strategy to navigate the proposal through Congress.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said he would add into a budget bill a measure to allow companies to drill for oil and gas in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.


Because Senate rules treat the budget measure differently from other legislation, successfully attaching the drilling provision to it means it could pass with support from 51 senators. That would end opponents' chances to block the drilling measure with a filibuster. A filibuster would force supporters to find 60 votes.

In 2003, Senate Democrats and several Republicans blocked a proposal for drilling in the refuge by a vote of 52 to 48. The GOP has gained four seats in the Senate since then, giving them 55.

more...

http://www.latimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=GOP+TO+drill+in+arctic&x=0&y=0&target=article

[shoelace414]

6. Don't forget.. one of the dems we lost was Zell.

[jasmeel]

7. My belief is that Bush is purposely leaving gas prices high

as a way to motivate his gas guzzling SUV driving supporters to back his energy bill. The dems should be pointing out that gas prices are predicted to be close to 2.50 and Bush could care less.They should be screaming it!

[silverlib]

8. Oh my -

I read it first as "GOD RENEWS"

Is that the same as the GOP?

[DS1]

9. Tell Negroponte there's an informant hiding in underground tunnels

That'll have the place devoid of life in days :eyes:

[Roland99]

10. The supply of oil is not the problem...it's our refining capacity!

And there's not enough in the ANWR to make a dent in anything.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Ah yes peak oil is hitting hard

so instaed of researching alternate sources, which makes sense, go after a wild life refuge where the cost to drill will be high, assuming there is as much oil as they claim

Yep that makes sense in bizarro world

[Mz Pip]

12. We certainly wouldn't

want to cramp our Gropernator Ahnold's lavish style. He's doing a road trip in a Humvee to promote his plans to continue to reek havoc on the lives of less than hella rich Californians.

Here's my message to the GOP. You can get back to me about drilling up in the Arctic when you've spent as much time touting conservation, high mileage vehicles and alternative energy. Until then, just opening up another source of petroleum just feeds the beast. F*ck that.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[woosh]

14. Is this not the 'Nuclear Option"?

Isn't this just a warm up for pushing everything though the senate?

[VirginiaDem]

13. We're going to lose this one but then at least it will

be in the record as another instance of Republican overstretch. Drilling in ANWAR is not popular. Combine that with the Republican neglect of alternatives and CAFE standards, etc., and we'll have a good campaign issue.

Of course, we should fight this as hard as we can by calling our representatives, etc. The unpopularity of this thing could turn enough Rep. votes to make the difference (Snow, Chaffee for examples)...here's hoping.