[GreenYes] Arctic National Wildife Refuge

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@recycleworlds.org>]

fyi

WALL STREET JOURNAL - 4/15/02

POLITICS AND POLICY

Time Appears to Be Running Out
On Bush's Alaska Drilling Proposal
By SHAILAGH MURRAY and JOHN J. FIALKA
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

"WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and its Senate Republican allies,
though still bargaining for votes, are bracing for a loss on one of the most
politically charged issues of the year: whether to allow drilling for oil in
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"A green light for drilling in ANWR is a cornerstone of President Bush's own
broader energy package. Senate Republicans are proposing it as an amendment
to the majority Democrats' pending energy bill. They are led by Alaska's GOP
Sen. Frank Murkowski, who has fought to tap Arctic oil for 20 years.

"But blocking ANWR's opening is an important litmus test for
environmentalists. Leading their fight are two Democratic presidential
hopefuls, Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut. The intensity of the battle dramatizes as much as anything just
how vulnerable Mr. Bush's domestic agenda remains, despite his stratospheric
popularity as commander-in-chief and the lingering -- if strained --
bipartisanship on war matters.

"Republicans say the vote, expected this week, is a toss-up. But the reality
is that Mr. Murkowski is struggling to secure 50 votes -- and though Vice
President Dick Cheney could break a tie in the 100-member Senate, under
Senate rules Mr. Murkowski would need 60 votes to beat a filibuster from
Sens. Kerry and Lieberman.

"Moreover, Republicans' best shot at vote-rustling seems to have backfired.
Mr. Murkowski and other drilling supporters proposed to add a bailout for
steelworkers to the energy bill, as a sweetener for Democratic holdouts. Not
only are Democrats spurning the offer, but conservative Republicans condemn
it as the sort of costly government relief they expect from Democrats, not
the GOP.

"...

______________________________
Peter Anderson
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING Corp
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705
Ph:    (608) 231-1100
Fax:   (608) 233-0011
Cell:   (608) 345-0381
email: anderson@recycleworlds.org
web:  www.recycleworlds.org

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