Arctic Refuge drilling top priority for energy chief
WASHINGTON D.C.--The top U.S. Senate Republican with authority over energy matters on Tuesday named oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as his first priority for the coming congressional session.
New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, after being re-elected chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, immediately issued a news release touting his plans for the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain in Alaska's northeast corner.
"We are going to make a push to develop our vast oil resources in the Arctic Refuge in a way that leaves the environment pristine while stabilizing oil prices and enhancing our energy independence," he said.
According to government mid-range estimates, the area has about 5 billion barrels of developable oil at prices of $26.20 per barrel. That's about a third of the total oil pumped from the North Slope since 1977.
Drilling opponents say it isn't enough to make a difference in the nation's energy prices or independence and development will sacrifice an irreplaceable wilderness.
The House of Representatives approved drilling in the past two congressional sessions as part of a national energy bill. But Domenici indicated Tuesday that he is done with that strategy, which has foundered on filibuster threats in the Senate. Supporters didn't have the 60 votes necessary to stop the endless speeches permitted in that chamber.
Instead, Domenici said, he expects to use a budgetary process that avoids a filibuster. That also has failed in the past, but this year, with Republican gains in the election, drilling supporters think they have the 51 votes necessary to succeed.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska and a member of Domenici's committee, also put ANWR drilling at the top of her list after being sworn into office Tuesday.
Murkowski, 47, becomes the first Alaskan senator to have been born in the state, the result of having been the first woman to win a statewide race in Alaska.
Appointed by her father after he quit the U.S. Senate and won the governorship in 2002, Murkowski went on to defeat former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles by a margin of about 3 percent in November.
Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, also was sworn into office Tuesday, after an election in which he faced no significant opposition and used much of his time and money to boost Murkowski.
Young, 71, has served Alaska in the House since a special election in 1973 and now is the third highest-ranking Republican.
That seniority gained Young the chairmanship of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in 2001. He said Tuesday that, besides ANWR, he will push for passage of a bill setting highway spending levels for the next several years. The House and Senate couldn't reach an agreement on the spending level in 2004 and the bill died. Congress extended current spending levels through mid-2005.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, did not face re-election last year. Stevens likely will be elected chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee today, leaving his six-year chairmanship of, but not his membership on, the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Stevens, 81, has served in the Senate since his appointment in 1968.
This story courtesy of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
ANWR top priority for energy chief
