Senate votes to allow Alaska wildlife refuge

[Knockneed Man]

Mar 16, 2:04 PM (ET)
By H. JOSEF HEBERT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.

The Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year's budget, preventing opponents from using a filibuster - a tactic that has blocked repeated past attempts to open the Alaska refuge to oil companies.

[lemon boy]

GODDAMNED IDIOT MOTHERFUCKERS!

[Dr. Gaper]

Isn't that what Alaskans want?

[72Twenty]

greedy fuckin' bastards.

[Buster Highmen]

Well...duh... <insert obvious political slingfest>

[Cliff Huckable]

Mar 16, 2:04 PM (ET)
By H. JOSEF HEBERT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.

What the fuck do high oil prices have to do with it?
Unbelievable!

[Buster Highmen]

What the fuck do high oil prices have to do with it?
Unbelievable!

Any rationale in a storm.

[Knockneed Man]

CNN said this morning, if they DO drill, it would be at least 10 years before the US actually see's any oil from it... So this provides NO relief for any gas/oil pricing in the near future.

[PlayHarder]

What the fuck do high oil prices have to do with it?
Unbelievable!

Simple, the cost to drill and get the oil/gas from there to market are way too high to meet acceptable profit margins for the producers when oil prices are low.

[Ak_pride]

well, most alaskans will be celebrating, but environmentalists and others are gonna start a riot, Id say it'll still be a while comming.

[Free Range Lobster]

well, most alaskans will be celebrating, but environmentalists and others are gonna start a riot, Id say it'll still be a while comming.

Watch for reports that Earth Liberation Front are once again terrorists.

Fucking cocksmoking republicans.

[Dr. Gaper]

Fucking cocksmoking republicans.

Were you planning a trip to the refuge?

[Free Range Lobster]

Were you planning a trip to the refuge?

Only to help shoot people working the rigs.
They're far better game than Moose.

[Long Duck Dong]

Isn't that what Alaskans want?

Ever heard of the Permanent Fund? Is it a shock to you that Alaskans, who are annually paid off by big oil, are in favor of more drilling? Does that in any way constitute a pro-drilling argument?

And just because I, as an example, have never been to the majority of remaining natural, open spaces on this planet, does not mean that I have no regard for their preservation.

[72Twenty]

Ever heard of the Permanent Fund? Is it a shock to you that Alaskans, who are annually paid off by big oil, are in favor of more drilling? Does that in any way constitute a pro-drilling argument?

And just because I, as an example, have never been to the majority of remaining natural, open spaces on this planet, does not mean that I have no regard for their preservation.

I am unable to believe you. That Yankees hat can't hide the fact that you are Saddam Hussein.

[Knockneed Man]

More....

Senate votes for ANWR oil drilling
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Posted: 2:27 PM EST (1927 GMT)


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid the backdrop of soaring oil and gasoline prices, a sharply divided Senate on Wednesday voted to open the ecologically rich Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling, delivering a major energy policy win for President Bush.

The Senate, by a 51-49 vote, rejected an attempt by Democrats and GOP moderates to remove a refuge drilling provision from next year's budget, preventing opponents from using a filibuster -- a tactic that has blocked repeated past attempts to open the Alaska refuge to oil companies.

The action, assuming Congress agrees on a budget, clears the way for approving drilling in the refuge later this year, drilling supporters said.

The oil industry has sought for more than two decades to get access to what is believed to be billions of barrels of oil beneath the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the northern eastern corner of Alaska.

Environmentalists have fought such development and argued that despite improve environmental controls a web of pipelines and drilling platforms would harm calving caribou, polar bears and millions of migratory birds that use the coastal plain.

Bush has called tapping the reserve's oil a critical part of the nation's energy security and a way to reduce America's reliance on imported oil, which account for more than half of the 20 million barrels of crude use daily. The Alaska refuge could supply as much as 1 million barrels day at peak production, drilling supporters said.

"We won't see this oil for 10 years. It will have minimal impact," argued Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, a co-sponsor of the amendment that would have stripped the arctic refuge provision from the budget document. It is "foolish to say oil development and a wildlife refuge can coexist," she said.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, argued that more oil would be saved if Congress enacted an energy policy focusing on conservation, more efficient cars and trucks and increased reliance on renewable fuels and expanded oil development in the deep-water Gulf where there are significant reserves.

"The fact is (drilling in ANWR) is going to be destructive," said Kerry.

But drilling proponents argued that modern drilling technology can safeguard the refuge and still tap the likely -- though not yet certain -- 10.4 billion barrels of crude in the refuge.

"Some people say we ought to conserve more. They say we ought to conserve instead of producing this oil," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, "But we need to do everything. We have to conserve and produce where we can."

The vote Wednesday contrasted with the last time the Senate took up the ANWR drilling issue two years ago. Then, an attempt to include it in the budget was defeated. But drilling supporters gained strength last November when Republicans picked up three additional seats, all senators who favored drilling in the refuge.

Opponents of drilling complained that Republicans this time were trying "an end run" by attaching the refuge provisions to the budget, a tactic that would allow the measure to pass with a majority vote.

"It's the only way around a filibuster" which requires 60 votes to overcome, countered Stevens.

The 19-million-acre refuge was set aside for protection by President Eisenhower in 1960, but Congress in 1980 said its 1.5 million acre coastal plain could be opened to oil development if Congress specifically authorizes it.

Bush, who has urged Congress repeatedly to allow oil companies to tap the refuge's crude, said Wednesday it's "a way to get some additional reserves here at home on the books."

[skierX]

Ever heard of the Permanent Fund?

yes:

its the fund i was living off of before my dad met my step mom.

[Long Duck Dong]

yes:

its the fund i was living off of before my dad met my step mom.

And if while you were living off of it, there was a state-wide referendum to decide if there should be more drilling, which would pad the fund, you probably would have been in favor of it, right? This is the concern, dude.

[homerjay]

It's a NATIONAL wildlife refuge, not an ALASKAN wildlife refuge meaning that my granola eating office jockey ass in Colorado has just as much stake in it as anybody else.

Big oil wins again politically.

[lemon boy]

The thing that makes me the angriest about this is that it is totally not necessary right now.

There is already proven reserves in "open" areas up there that they could tap.
It will not make a difference in energy prices (hello! anybody ever hear of a little group called OPEC?)
The current slope operators do not have a shining record
The State's watchdog agency does not have a shining record
The Shrub's "weak dollar" policy is responsible for the bulk of the jacked oil prices
It is dumbshit to deplete our reserves now instead of everyone elses now

The only people who win are big oil.

I am not naive enough to think that at some point it wouldn't be tapped b/c when push comes to shove it will happen...we're a looooong way off from that though.

[lemon boy]

It is high time for us to stop sucking this tit and get on the nukular program!

[mtbakerskier]

Edited for certin reasons

[Jumper Bones]

without sticking up for big oil in any way, on of the rationalizations for in the increases in gas / crude oil prices has been that with the rapid expansions of China and India, worldwide demand for oil has shot up dramatically. I think the factoid said the oil demand in China has increased sixfold or something like that within the last 5-10 years.

At any rate, demand has gone up, but the supply hasn't increased as there haven't been any significant oil finds in some time. Then there's the obvious security concerns that drive up the cost of oil production, both in the middle east and in Africa.

Meanwhile people seem to think the price increases are a temporary thing, and advocate only releasing some oil from the nat'l petroleum reserve. If the problem really is a supply issue, then releasing emergency reserves will do nothing but provide a temporary respite in gas costs.

[Squirrel99]

MBS- I agree with you. It's like the whole Pelican Brief movie coming to life with big oil in control. And yes, a [EDITED BECAUSE IT IS NO LONGER FREESPEECH IN THE USA] to Bush, too.

It's disgusting how stupid these people are.
The only way to end dependance on Mideast Oil is to invest in clean renewable energy sources and alternate fuel. Work on fuel efficiency, hybrid cars, etc... Find a way to stop being dependant on oil.

Until we realize this, we won't ever get out of this problem. The right wingers are just trying to satisfy their corporate donors right now and it's disgusting. I realize it creates jobs, but the whole 'corporate' influence of the Oil & Gas industry is ridiculous and not the 'view' of the American People.
I hope all the "Green" groups start advertising in those constituents' districts alerting them to how their senators have voted and that other places like Yellowstone and Arches/Canyonlands National Parks have similar odds at stake with Bushy's agenda. That'll be a good way to grab attention and get these assmongers out of Congress. Need to support the Greens and Dems.

We need to fix the problem and drilling is not the answer. Shit, there was a band we saw touring a few weeks ago on a bus using Vegetable oil. Certainly we have smart enough people to figure out how to reduce our dependance on foreign oil and come up with better solutions than this.

[Cliff Huckable]

CNN said this morning, if they DO drill, it would be at least 10 years before the US actually see's any oil from it... So this provides NO relief for any gas/oil pricing in the near future.

IT WON'T PROVIDE ANY RELIEF FROM OIL/GAS PRICING - IT CAN'T!

OIL MARKETS DON'T WORK THAT WAY!!!

I was amazed at the number of people in the US who thought invading Iraq would lower oil prices in the US.