US energy chief says no energy bill veto decision
Date: 25-Sep-02
Country: USA
Author: Yereth Rosen
Although opening the refuge to drilling is a crucial component of the Bush energy plan, "the administration doesn't have a veto policy," Abraham said after a speech to the annual meeting of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, an oil industry group.
"At this point, our focus is on trying to make a bill happen, not speculating about it not happening," he said.
Abraham's comments came five days after Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she would recommend a veto if national energy legislation omitted oil development in the Arctic refuge.
The Bush administration is urging Congress to give energy firms access to the Arctic refuge in northeast Alaska, arguing the area's possible 16 billion barrels of oil are needed to reduce U.S. crude imports from hostile countries like Iraq.
In his speech, Abraham called ANWR drilling a matter of national security and said the Senate should follow the House's lead in authorizing it.
"Our administration has made it clear that America will not beg for oil - that is not the kind of country we are - nor does it make sense when there are billions of barrels of oil waiting to be extracted right here in Alaska. The time has therefore come for Congress to finish the job and let ANWR begin," he said.
Senate and House negotiators face a deadline at the end of September to reach a compromise energy bill expected to include tax incentives for drilling, require more ethanol use to stretch gasoline supplies and tighten energy efficiency standards.
Whether to allow drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge is expected to be the most contentious issue that lawmakers face in hammering out the final energy bill.
The refuge sprawls across 19 million acres (7.7 million hectares), but only the area's 1.5-million-acre (607,000-hectare) coastal plain would be accessible to energy firms. The Republican-led House has voted to limit drilling activities to just 2,000 acres (809 hectares) at any one time.
The Democratic-led Senate and many environmental groups oppose opening the refuge, saying the area's caribou, polar bears and other wildlife would be harmed from drilling.
