Senate votes to allow Alaska wildlife refuge

[natty dread]

before they get better. At least that's what I keep telling myself with regard to the shrub administration.
A sad day. Just listened to gale norton spew the same old bs about anwr on npr--disgusting.

[SkiingBear]

If we're just going to drill where ever the fuck we want to anyway...let's just open up the National Parks and National Forests to drilling, logging, and mining. Why bother to protect anything? If the land was worth protecting and designating as a Wildlife Refuge in 1960...then it's damn well worth it now. This is nothing but a case of the rich getting richer and all of us getting poorer. You don't think that that gas prices will ever significantly go down do you? The increased costs of establishing drilling and processing facilities in ANWR will demand higher gas prices to pay them off. And before anyone jumps my case about any of this...I work for the oil industry, I've been to the North Slope on multiple occassions, and I know the kind of money their making on the oil they're currently harvesting off the slope (it's already ridiculous).

Fuck Bush, fuck congress, fuck the oil industry, and fuck everyone that voted these retards into office. I'm outta here, I'm gonna get out in the mountains while they're still here.

[hopped]

sad part is that best case scenario at 1 million barrels/day production, and 10 billion barrels retrievable in ANWR(not likely) all the oil will be GONE 27 years from the start of drilling. And so will ANWR. How can anyone be so shortsighted?

[Lane Meyer]

As a geologist that used to work for the USGS, I am deeply disappointed by this decision. Every scientific piece of literature I have read loudy and clearly claims that the total amount of oil that can be economically withdrawn by today's technology will not last more than 6 months at peak US consumption. Plain and simple, there really isn't that much easily recoverable oil up there. This is nothing but a thinly and poorly veiled attempt to make Bush's rich Texas energy friends richer.

Also, check out:
My TR from a lecture I attended on ANWR last winter in Hawai`i

[Tippster]

Nevermind...

[Svengali]

I think that in typical M.B.S fashion, He's "temporarily" safe as he misspelled the offending/implicating word---It perhaps safe to assume that he prolly meant (assainate:to assign the title of "ass" )------but then those jack-booted thugs may have already hauled him away????

[ak_powder_monkey]

FUCK

There goes one of my close friends livelyhood.

[Svengali]

AKPM, this is an example of another one of your pointless posts!!!!!!! for a brief clarification: Just what the "fuck" does your "close" friend do? for us that don't know, could be that they are "tree huggers" collecting petition signatures in front of B&N? or perhaps as subsistance hunters in Arctic Village? In all likelyhood though , no one really cares!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cornelius]

A truly disappointing day on the Hill.

[ak_powder_monkey]

AKPM, this is an example of another one of your pointless posts!!!!!!! for a brief clarification: Just what the "fuck" does your "close" friend do? for us that don't know, could be that they are "tree huggers" collecting petition signatures in front of B&N? or perhaps as subsistance hunters in Arctic Village? In all likelyhood though , no one really cares!!!!!!!!!!!

He owns a company that floats rivers in the refuge

[The AD]

Were you planning a trip to the refuge?

The fact that 99.9999% of the people in the U.S. will never set foot in the ANWR is the best reason I can think of why it should be preserved.

[hucksquaw]

most alaskans will be celebrating

im originally from alaska and i think this is a fuckin tradgedy..... the 1 area in this country (and the only area that i would be so opposed to this) that looks so beautiful and is so untouched and they have to go and tarnish its beauty with more of this bullshit.....

[Rusty Nails]

Truly mortifying. Corporate greed runs wild instead of rivers and herds of rare ungulates. Yes, Alaskans support it. They are bought and paid for and, demographically, a bunch of under-educated rednecks living large off federally subsidized programs and resource extraction that allow them an economy with no municipal or state sales or income taxes in Anchorage. Hmmmm.

On another note, what crime was allegedly committed by MBS??? Did I miss something???

[The AD]

On another note, what crime was allegedly committed by MBS??? Did I miss something???

I think you missed the fatwah he issued on the President

[Rusty Nails]

I think he said "that fucking idiot". That could mean anyone in the administration???

[powstash]

Also, check out:
My TR from a lecture I attended on ANWR last winter in Hawai`i

I guess the two DEMOCRAT Senators from Hawaii didn't attend the slideshow/lecture since they crossed the aisle, along with the Democrat Senator from LA, to vote with the Republican majority.

I applaud the few Republican Senators like Smith from Oregon who stood strong for the enviornment. My two Senators from Utah just recieved e-mail's from me explaining my disgust. I'm awaiting a response from one of thier interns.

Any maggots in here from Hawaii? If so, write your Senators and tell them "thanks a friggin' lot" from me.

[Rusty Nails]

Powstash,

HI democrats are known for this. Hawaii and Alaskan delegations seem to be odd bedfellows, but they join up quite a bit to fleece the contiguous states for money. I guarantee Stevens will support some HI legislation this year or sneak a shitload of pork into a hidden appropriation.

[powstash]

So let's make Hawaii a territory like PR and just nab BC or Alberta from the Cannuks.

Nah, it's disgusting that they didn't hold true to thier party lines on this one.

[Rusty Nails]

Couldn't agree more. They totally sold out -- not sure what the bribe was, but if you watch, you'll see some huge $$$ headed their direction with Stevens doing all the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

[freshies]

interestoing email i got today from the NRDC: it ain't over yet, email/call those senators and contribute time/$ if ya can to folks like the NRDC:

Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,

As you may already know, our campaign to save the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge suffered a major setback in the U.S. Senate today.

The Senate is about to pass a budget resolution that calls for oil development
in the refuge. An amendment that would have stripped the Arctic drilling
provision from the budget bill was defeated by only two votes, 49-51.

This fight is far from over, however. To become law, the Senate budget bill
must still be "reconciled" with the House budget bill -- something Congress has
been unable to do the past few years. You can be sure that we will be battling
at every opportunity -- and there will be several -- to remove Arctic drilling
from any budget that actually winds up on President Bush's desk.

I am not going to soft-pedal today's defeat. It is distressing that pro-oil
forces, significantly strengthened by last November's election, were able to
pass this terrible bill in the Senate, where we've blocked them before. It is a
sad day indeed when the White House and Senate leaders are able to bypass
public hearings and debate by tying the fate of America's great wildlife refuge
to the federal budget bill, where it does not belong.

I want you to know one thing: we fought our hardest to defend the Arctic Refuge
in the U.S. Senate. Our legislative staff worked day and night to win over
critical swing votes. They were aided by the more than 450,000 emails and faxes
you sent to Congress. In the last few days, thousands of our supporters in 10
key states flooded their senators' offices with anti-drilling phone calls. And
an outpouring of contributions enabled us to run hard-hitting advertising in
the most critical states.

We gave it everything we had. But in today's vote we just could not overcome a
White House that was shamelessly trumpeting the need to sacrifice the Arctic
Refuge for the sake of America's energy security and national security -- an
argument that is as erroneous as it is destructive to our natural heritage.

Congress must still pass two different budget measures to complete its assault
on the refuge, and I can assure you that we will battle every step of the way
as these bills play out over the months to come. That's why, in the wake of
this most recent setback, I would urge you to convert your outrage and sorrow
into action. We're going to need your redoubled commitment to our cause in the
fight ahead. I know we can count on you.

Thank you for all you've done.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

P.S. If you would like to learn how your own senators voted on this issue,
copy and paste the entire link below into your web browser: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LI..._vote_cfm.cfm?
congress=109&session=1&vote=00052

. . .

Note: We appreciate the opportunity to communicate with you and other NRDC
BioGems Defenders, but if you would prefer not to receive BioGems updates or
hear from BioGems activists in the field, you can send an email message to biogemsdefenders@savebiogems.org with "Please remove my name" in the subject
line.

To update your information, including your email or mailing address, log in to
your Action Log at http://www.savebiogems.org/actionlog/ and click "Update your
info."

[Squirrel99]

I guess the two DEMOCRAT Senators from Hawaii didn't attend the slideshow/lecture since they crossed the aisle, along with the Democrat Senator from LA, to vote with the Republican majority.

I applaud the few Republican Senators like Smith from Oregon who stood strong for the enviornment. My two Senators from Utah just recieved e-mail's from me explaining my disgust. I'm awaiting a response from one of thier interns.

Any maggots in here from Hawaii? If so, write your Senators and tell them "thanks a friggin' lot" from me.

Good point, Powstash. But with 3 dems crossing party lines for drilling and only a handful of moderate republicans (7) going the other way- it's still pretty blatent that this is a major cornerstone of Republican political goals. Going back to the election there was also a highly confidential document leaked to the press that communicated from DC to all republican offices on how to deflect questions regarding the environment and their poor stewardship. It's also my opinion that this was a huge weak point that the Democrats failed to exploit and cost them the election.

Hopefully, movements like this Republicans for Environmental Protection can help change the disastrous course GW and his gang are setting. Now that they have ANWR- and pursuits of Yellowstone, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks next... where does the buck stop? I'm not a member of either party, but looking at the 'platforms' of the two major parties- one stands for environmental protection and the other for proliferation and profit.

Environmental Issues should not be in one party's interest or the other. They should be in everyone's desire to block the "Special Interests (re: Oil and Gas and some of George's friends) who are really the only ones to benefit from this.

As for writing either of the two senators from Utah- it will land on a deaf ear. I tried this for the 5 years I was in Utah- not once did I get a response other than 'thank you for your inquiry, however, I do not agree with you so there'

But as a nation as a whole, we need to put serious pressure on these Senators that voted for ANWR drilling and make it public knowledge in their districts how they have voted. Clean Water bills will be next. That's even more important that Bush doesn't have his way for the polluters. He wants to mix RAW SEWAGE into our Rivers, Streams, Lakes and Oceans. Seriously.
I hate to say it, but Orrin Hatch will likely ignore you and tell you otherwise. He needs to be benched. I think Benett is more approachable and willing to talk about the issues.

[ill-advised strategy]

Cheer up people! I'm sure this'll be the best goddamned 6 months of oil we ever waste.

[Squirrel99]

As promised, here are the listing of votes on ANWR Drilling today.
PLEASE take note if they are YOUR Senators and have expressed your views correctly on this issue. I know this is a 'ski forum' and I hate talking about NSR political stuff like this- but it directly affects our passion for the outdoors. More stuff coming down the pipe that GW is going to want to push through for polluters now that he knows he finally won a previously 'unachievable prize'

10 Senators crossed party lines- Please THANK your Republican Senator in Ohio, Minnesota, Oregon, Maine (2), Rhode Island, and Arizona for standing up to the Special Interests- and chastise the Hawaii (2) and
NOTE: Yea is for approval of removing the ANWR Drilling option from the budget. Nay voted FOR the drilling to be included.

Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska: Murkowski (R-AK), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Nay McCain (R-AZ), Yea
Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea
California: Boxer (D-CA), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Colorado: Allard (R-CO), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Connecticut: Dodd (D-CT), Yea Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Delaware: Biden (D-DE), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea
Florida: Martinez (R-FL), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Hawaii: Akaka (D-HI), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Idaho: Craig (R-ID), Nay o (R-ID), Nay
Illinois: Durbin (D-IL), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea
Indiana: Bayh (D-IN), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Iowa: Grassley (R-IA), Nay Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Louisiana: Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Maryland: Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Yea
Massachusetts: Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Michigan: Levin (D-MI), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Yea
Minnesota: Coleman (R-MN), Yea Dayton (D-MN), Yea
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Nay Talent (R-MO), Nay
Montana: Baucus (D-MT), Yea Burns (R-MT), Nay
Nebraska: Hagel (R-NE), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nevada: Ensign (R-NV), Nay Reid (D-NV), Yea
New Hampshire: Gregg (R-NH), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay
New Jersey: Corzine (D-NJ), Yea Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
New Mexico: Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Domenici (R-NM), Nay
New York: Clinton (D-NY), Yea Schumer (D-NY), Yea
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Nay Dole (R-NC), Nay
North Dakota: Conrad (D-ND), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Ohio: DeWine (R-OH), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Oregon: Smith (R-OR), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea
Pennsylvania: Santorum (R-PA), Nay Specter (R-PA), Nay
Rhode Island: Chafee (R-RI), Yea Reed (D-RI), Yea
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Nay Graham (R-SC), Nay
South Dakota: Johnson (D-SD), Yea Thune (R-SD), Nay
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Nay Frist (R-TN), Nay
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Vermont: Jeffords (I-VT), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Virginia: Allen (R-VA), Nay Warner (R-VA), Nay
Washington: Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea
West Virginia: Byrd (D-WV), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Wisconsin: Feingold (D-WI), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Wyoming: Enzi (R-WY), Nay Thomas (R-WY), Nay

[Jumper Bones]

Well, how 'bout that...Max Baucus voted to remove it, as did John McCain.

Guess I thought Montana would firmly side with this. Conrad Burns still voted "nay", but it wasn't a total sweep...surprising to me, I guess...

thanks for posting the vote breakdown Squirrel.

[lemon boy]

Called the whole CO delegation yesterday (except for Ken Salazar, prolly call his office today). There will be a house amendment (no chance in hell of course). Left a scathing message with Sen. Allard letting him know that this was the last straw for this registered repubican ever voting for him (not that I would've anyway). Left messages with a few and got guffaws from a couple of (R) staffers. Sigh.

If anyone needs to get a listing of their congressional delegation you can find it here: http://www.vote-smart.org/official_c...p?dist=bio.php