Can you taste it yet?
"I've been at this for 25 years. This is the closest I've ever come." -- CHL Alaskan delegate Ted Stevens

Both sides in a U.S. Senate debate over opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling expected a close vote on Wednesday over the latest attempt by Senate Republicans to pass the measure, this time by adding it to a big military-spending bill.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWR by the idiots in the environmental community who do not use the term wilderness and do not understand the importance of language, may hold 10 billion barrels of oil. Then again, it may not.

Most Senate Democrats and some moderate Republicans say the frigid wilderness and its assortment of wildlife, ranging from polar bears to peregrine falcons, should be protected. Republicans contend the refuge must be opened to drilling to stop a steady slide in U.S. crude-oil production. Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska attached the measure to a $453 billion defense-spending bill that pays for U.S. troops and Pentagon weapons programs in the coming year. Furious Democrats threatened to block the measure with a filibuster, saying the ANWR measure has no connection to military spending and violates Senate rules.

Republicans have to muster 60 votes to stop a filibuster. They hold 55 seats in the Senate while Democrats have 44 seats. There is one independent. "I think it will be a very close vote," said Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "This is going to be a hard day."

Stevens, who has fought since the 1980s to pry open the refuge, gave mixed signals. Initially he said he would drop ANWR from the bill if Democrats successfully filibustered it, but later said he would force the entire bill to be renegotiated. "I'm hopeful I'll have them," Stevens said, when asked by reporters if he had the votes to end a filibuster. "I've been at this for 25 years. This is the closest I've ever come."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages ANWR, describes it as "one of the finest examples of wilderness left on the planet." The refuge is the same size as South Carolina, with most of its land accessible only by plane or boat. Oil companies say exploration and drilling could be limited to a small area and would not harm the wildlife.

For a half-dozen Republicans who have long opposed ANWR drilling, the defense bill represents a difficult choice. Few politicians want to be seen rejecting a defense bill that pays the salaries of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The defense bill also includes funding for Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, the bird flu pandemic and a program that helps poor families pay winter heating bills.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 9:20 AM | |