Iowans,

This is the first time that Gregg has suggested that he will support
adding Arctic drilling to the budget.  He has been silent about it for
several months.  That makes the work that we are doing on Nussle even
more important.  He will be under an enormous amount of pressure to
include in the House budget bill as well.  Keep up the pressure!!

Phyllis

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY DAILY

Thursday, March 3, 2005



SPOTLIGHT

1. ENERGY POLICY

Gregg confirms ANWR likely in Senate budget resolution

Ben Geman, E&E Daily reporter

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is strongly
suggesting he will back efforts to use the budget process to drill in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after weeks of silence on the explosive
issue.

Senate Budget Committee spokeswoman Cara Duckworth yesterday said Gregg
will mimic the president's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget, which
assumes $2.4 billion in leasing revenues in FY '07. "We are going to
follow the president's leadership on ANWR," Duckworth said, adding there
is a "reasonable chance" it will appear when the Senate Budget Committee
takes up the budget next week.

Including ANWR revenues in the budget paves the way for removal of
drilling prohibitions on the coastal plain in budget reconciliation
legislation that cannot be filibustered. A Senate effort to open ANWR
through the budget narrowly failed in 2003.

The addition of several new pro-drilling senators in the 109th Congress
has given drilling advocates hope that they may succeed this time after
years of frustration. "With control of the House and Senate and a couple
more senators, I think the prospects are very encouraging at this time,"
said Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski (R), a lead drilling proponent, during
an appearance on E&ETV's OnPoint.

Murkowski reiterated that ANWR can be developed in an environmentally
sensitive way that will also help address U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
He also addressed what many have described as an apparent lack of
interest among major oil companies.

"I think some of them want to have it both ways. You know, they want to
appear that well, they're neutral on it, but if it's opened, I can assure
you they will be there participating in bidding for leases in the area
because they're very competitive as you know," he said.

Murkowski also reiterated his claim that the state may seek to develop
the coastal area off ANWR if the onshore area is not developed. "The
state has sovereign ownership of our three-mile limit. So that coastal
area off ANWR is under the control of the state of Alaska. So we could
initiate a drilling exploration program offshore, but we'd much rather
proceed within the area on land. It's much easier. It has less
engineering challenges, but you know there are other alternatives," he
said.

Gregg's apparent willingness to include ANWR in the budget comes as the
Senate, Bush administration proponents and several media outlets are
preparing to leave this week for a tour of existing North Slope
production sites and a visit to the refuge's coastal plain.

For their part, environmental groups and a strong coalition of Democrats
have long argued ANWR oil would fail to dent U.S. dependence on foreign
oil and would endanger a protected area that is home to rare species of
caribou, musk oxen and polar bears. Several high-profile Senate Democrats
have pledged to filibuster ANWR should it come to the floor as standard
legislation.

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