Democrats Warn ANWR Drilling Will Kill Energy Bill
Date: 02-Oct-03
Country: USA
Author: Tom Doggett
The final bill is expected to include billions of dollars worth of tax credits and incentives for natural gas production, coal-fired power plants, nuclear energy and electricity reliability.
"ANWR will kill the energy bill," Daschle told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Daschle said there are between 55 and 58 senators who would probably oppose energy legislation if it gives oil companies access to the refuge, also known as ANWR. It is one of the world's most remote natural areas and roughly the size of South Carolina. The sprawling 19 million acre refuge in northeastern Alaska is home to caribou, snow geese, polar bears and other wildlife.
Daschle's estimate of senators opposed to ANWR drilling is enough to block a vote on the energy bill. Under Senate rules, at least 60 lawmakers in the 100-member chamber must agree to end debate on controversial measures such as ANWR drilling and allow a vote.
"I don't see how (Republicans) can conclude that they've got the votes" to keep ANWR drilling, Daschle said.
The Bush administration said tapping the refuge's potential 16 billion barrels of crude will help the United States become less reliant on oil imports. But environmentalists and many Democrats argue oil drilling will harm the refuge's wildlife.
"One of the things we need to do is, for economic security and national security, to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy," President Bush told a Chicago audience at a campaign fund-raiser on Tuesday.
"The Congress needs to complete work on a comprehensive energy plan."
A study this week by the government's Energy Information Administration concluded ANWR oil would reduce the share of crude oil imports to 60 percent of total U.S. crude supply by 2020, slightly lower than the 62 percent share forecast without the refuge's oil.
In addition, the EIA study said it would be 2012 at the earliest until ANWR oil production could begin.
Republican negotiators released late on Monday a second revised draft of the energy bill, which again contained a provision opening the refuge to oil drilling, despite the threatened filibuster from Democrats.
The bill's managers, Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Billy Tauzin, are trying to win over some senators by offering to include pet energy projects and programs in the bill, according to industry lobbyists.
For example, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who previously voted against drilling in the Arctic refuge, said he might support the overall bill even with ANWR drilling because the legislation contains $800 million in federal loan guarantees for a new power plant in his state.
Domenici has said if does not have the 60 Senate votes to block a filibuster on the energy bill, he will drop the ANWR drilling provision.
Separately, Tauzin told reporters he plans to present a final bill to a joint Senate-House conference committee by the end of the week.
Daschle said that goal was "overly optimistic" given other contentious parts of the bill that still must be worked out.
Tauzin said he and Domenici are close to agreements to modernize the aging U.S. electric grid and increase the use of ethanol-blended gasoline, the two big issues yet to be addressed. A multibillion-dollar package of energy tax incentives and credits is also nearly completed, he said.
The energy bill could face a vote in the full House as soon as next week, and be considered by the Senate when it returns in mid-October from a week-long recess, Tauzin said. (Additional reporting by Chris Baltimore)
