House Drops Arctic Drilling From Budget Bill

[kerrygoddess]

House Drops Arctic Drilling From Budget Bill
November 9th, 2005

Tonight, House leaders dropped the attempt to push through the hotly contested plan to open up the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The fear was that the plan would jeopardize the approval of the budget bill on Thursday. Also dropped from the budget plan was a proposal to “allow states to authorize oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts — regions currently under a drilling moratorium.”

The actions were a stunning setback for those who have tried for years to open a coastal strip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, to oil development, and a victory for environmentalists, who have lobbied hard against the drilling provisions. President Bush has made drilling in the Alaska refuge his top energy priority.

The House Rules Committee formalized the change late Wednesday by issuing the terms of the debate when the House takes up the budget package on Thursday.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1107

[aquart]

1. Kowtowing to big oil is a problem this week, I see.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Nah, the democratic victories were nothing

but we'd better act more moderate, just in case

[kurth]

3. How 'bout those billions of tax credit the oil execs said they don't need

Betcha the Republicans will leave them untouched...

[BattyDem]

4. A more accurate headline would be ...

"House Sees Election Results and Says, Oh shit ... we better drop arctic drilling from the budget bill." :evilgrin:

[DemInDistress]

6. batty...rotflmfao.!!!!! great post

[Erika]

7. They see the writing on the wall

Eisenhower set this land aside for all time to be protected from commercial development.

Eisenhower wasn't a democrat. We've had it with W's radical destruction of the environment. Totally had it.

[snowbear]

5. Maybe Ted Stevens will be so pissed, he'll finally retire!

[flpoljunkie]

9. Stevens & Domenici will bottle up budget if ANWR no included.

This budget package deserves to die. Hold it up all you want, Senators Stevens and Domenici.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110901930.html

More important, the Senate negotiators on a House-Senate conference committee will include Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), who have made it clear to House and Senate leaders they will not agree to any final measure that does not include Arctic drilling. One senior GOP aide in the Senate said Domenici and Stevens are willing to bottle up the budget package well into next year if the House does not relent on Arctic drilling.

[Hekate]

8. W made drilling ANWR his top energy priority? That was it?

What a simpleton. Given a choice between coming up with an actual plan that would improve the nation and the world, or, tossing bags of money at his pals -- Bush goes for the tossing bags of money method every single time.

Hekate

[rodeodance]

10. whow. this is something!!

[babylonsister]

11. Can anyone say flip-flop? Great news anyway! nt

[Jim__]

12. The senate will still push for it in conference.

If the House bill passes in a vote set for Thursday, the two chambers would appoint negotiators to work out differences between the bills. Senate Republicans could insist the ANWR drilling proposal be reinserted into the House bill, forcing a new vote by the full House. More...

So, the fight's not over.

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. They'll take it back up in late November 2006

after the elections. This is three card monty politics.