Republicans Fail To End Alaska Drilling Debate

[irishgrl]

Republicans fail to end Alaska drilling debate By Tom Doggett and Julie Vorman
3 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday failed to muster enough votes to keep a measure to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in a $453 billion defense spending bill.

The ANWR refuge, which sprawls along Alaska's northern coast and may hold 10 billion barrels of oil, has been the focus of bitter wrangling in the U.S. Congress for more than two decades.

Most Senate Democrats and some moderate Republicans said the frigid wilderness and its assortment of wildlife, ranging from polar bears to peregrine falcons, should be protected. Republicans contend ANWR must be opened to drilling to stop a steady slide in U.S. crude oil production.

Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska attached the measure to a $453 billion defense spending bill that pays for U.S. troops and Pentagon weapons programs in the coming year. Furious Democrats conducted the filibuster, saying the ANWR measure had no connection to military spending and violated Senate rules.

Although lawmakers were anxious to wrap up work for the year, Republicans failed to get the required 60 votes needed under Senate rules to cut off debate on the bill.

Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate while Democrats have 44 seats. There is one independent.

Democrats were expected to immediately move to seek a parliamentary ruling that the ANWR measure was not germane to the bill. However, they need 51 votes to win a vote on such a motion.



*CROSSES FINGERS*

[irishgrl]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051221/ap_on_go_co/arctic_drilling

Senate Blocks Alaska Refuge Drilling By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a must-pass defense spending bill where the quarter-century-old environmental issue had been placed to garner broader support.

Drilling backers fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withdraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist was among those who for procedural reasons cast a "no" vote, so that he could bring the drilling issue up for another vote.

The vote was a stinging defeat for Sen. Ted Stevens (news, bio, voting record), R-Alaska, who for years has waged an intense fight to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He had thought this time he would finally get his wish.

Stevens called the refuge's oil vital to national security and bemoaned repeated attempts over the years by opponents using the filibuster to kill drilling proposals.

Democrats, conversely, accused Stevens of holding hostage a military spending bill that includes money to support troops in Iraq and $29 billion for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Our military is being held hostage by this issue, Arctic drilling," fumed Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), the Democratic leader. The Nevada Democrat said the Senate could move quickly to pass the defense bill once the refuge issue was resolved

[Rickypt]

At least there's some good news today. Keep sticking it to that d*head Ted Stevens.

[DavidMn]

Our Republican senator from Minnesota Norm Coleman has consistently opposes this measure.:)

[SuzeQuze]

Its over for now, it got rejected. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10560979/

[DavidMn]

Its over for now, it got rejected. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10560979/Good. Maybe I'm a dummy, but it seems to me that developing alternative sources of energy ought to be more of a priority than ANWAR.

[SuzeQuze]

Good. Maybe I'm a dummy, but it seems to me that developing alternative sources of energy ought to be more of a priority than ANWAR.

Um, yeah. Why does what seems like an obvious point to us seem like a foreign concept to these yahoos?

[DavidMn]

Um, yeah. Why does what seems like an obvious point to us seem like a foreign concept to these yahoos?I saw the presiednt of some oil company this morning on CNBC, it was very interesting. He was talking about how it's basically(AND I'm paraphrasing here) wrong to try to develop Alternative fuels. It's gonna cost so much, BLAH BLAH BLAH. I think your answer might lie there.:mad:

[SuzeQuze]

I saw the presiednt of some oil company this morning on CNBC, it was very interesting. He was talking about how it's basically(AND I'm paraphrasing here) wrong to try to develop Alternative fuels. It's gonna cost so much, BLAH BLAH BLAH. I think your answer might lie there.:mad:

He's an a-hole. It has already been done and squashed. Costing something in the short term does not make it wrong. In the long run it will save everyone from the toxins in the air, water, ground and conserve the oil that is left plus companies can then make money off of he new fuel. Or the stuff that holds it or creates it. There is still money to be made. He's a short-sighted fool.

[DavidMn]

He's an a-hole. It has already been done and squashed. Costing something in the short term does not make it wrong. In the long run it will save everyone from the toxins in the air, water, ground and conserve the oil that is left plus companies can then make money off of he new fuel. Or the stuff that holds it or creates it. There is still money to be made. He's a short-sighted fool.You know its amazing how afraid people can be of change, no matter what the reason.:rolleyes:

[irishgrl]

You know its amazing how afraid people can be of change, no matter what the reason.:rolleyes:


He's not afraid of change he's afraid of the loss of $$$$$$$$$ in his pocketssssssssssssss my precioussssssssssssssss

[snowman]

Energy hungry nations like China and India will/are depleting what's left of the world's oil reserves at an alarming rate. This is a serious global problem, folks. We're in for major global ramifications faster than we think (Iraq is a good example) How do tell a country like China to look toward alternative fuels? What the frick good does it do to drill for oil in Alaska? Makes the US more self reliant?

Talk of alternative energy souces has been going on for years and years and nothing is happening. The world's economy can't be powered by alternative energy. We're fast approaching a crossroads and those with the most control over worldwide energy wins...

[SuzeQuze]

Energy hungry nations like China and India will/are depleting what's left of the world's oil reserves at an alarming rate. This is a serious global problem, folks. We're in for major global ramifications faster than we think (Iraq is a good example) How do tell a country like China to look toward alternative fuels? What the frick good does it do to drill for oil in Alaska? Makes the US more self reliant?

Talk of alternative energy souces has been going on for years and years and nothing is happening. The world's economy can't be powered by alternative energy. We're fast approaching a crossroads and those with the most control over worldwide energy wins...

There isn't even a choice. Oil is finite. One day it will be gone. Should we wait until it is gone to develop an alternative? Then it is clearly too late. Also, alternatives have been developed but the plans are always trashed by some bottom line focused executive. I understand they want to make numbers, keep stockholders happy, etc. Maybe they shouldn't be held accountable for finding or creating such sources. I just heard a woman's idea who called into AAR. Why not take 1% of our inflated defense budget and allocate it toward nurturing renewable energy research and planning? Too logical and reasonable? Probably.

[dontlookdown]

Republicans are disgusting self-centered pigs.

[irishgrl]

Energy hungry nations like China and India will/are depleting what's left of the world's oil reserves at an alarming rate. This is a serious global problem, folks. We're in for major global ramifications faster than we think (Iraq is a good example) How do tell a country like China to look toward alternative fuels? What the frick good does it do to drill for oil in Alaska? Makes the US more self reliant?

Talk of alternative energy souces has been going on for years and years and nothing is happening. The world's economy can't be powered by alternative energy. We're fast approaching a crossroads and those with the most control over worldwide energy wins...

Well, Ive got this crazy idea that if there were any smarts at ALL in the auto industry, they'd be exploiting this new opportunity, we've already got prototypes and successful alternatives. All that needs to happen NOW is for some forward thinking exec to push production of alt. energy vehicles and mass market them at low enuff prices so that they are affordable to the masses. We'd be ahead of the curve globally if we developed this new area.
Thats how we stayed on top before, by identifying a need and filling it. I cant help but think many other countries, once they started feeling the pinch of high oil prices or reduced oil availability, would be GLAD to have an alternative, and the US would be primed to be able to again supply vehicles overseas. Looks like a win-win to me..........

We know intellectually that the oil reserves are finite but the steady flow has lulled us into a false sense of security. The oil barons of Texas (mostly) cant seem to make the ideological leap from one type of cash cow to another which is weird to me. If it were me, I'd be looking to see how I could benefit from the NEXT phase. :shrug: