Senate votes to allow drilling in Alaska’s ANWR
On April 6, 2000, the U.S. Senate sided with the oil industry and voted
to
allow oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Senator Roth (R-DE) proposed an amendment that would have removed the
drilling language from the budget resolution, but the Senate voted
to
table, or “kill” the amendment by a vote of 51 to 49. A “NO”
vote is the
pro-environment vote.
The Senate FY2001 Budget Resolution assumes the federal government will
receive $1.2 billion from the sale of leases for oil exploration along
the
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2005.
Defeating
the Roth amendment will likely result in Senate consideration of
legislation (S.2214) to authorize the sale oil leases in the coastal
plain.
The Senate may debate that legislation as early as this week
as part of a
larger energy package.
Proponents of oil exploration in the arctic coastal plain claim that
such
development will lower gasoline prices and reduce America's dependence
upon
foreign oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. The
proponents of
oil exploration have exaggerated the amount of recoverable oil and
even if
such oil were retrieved, its impact on gas prices and our energy security
would be miniscule, and not recognized for many years. Therefore,
Americans would see no benefit from such a policy. Only the oil
companies
would profit and we would lose one of our most precious natural resources.
Please call or write your Senators about their vote on this
issue, thanking them for supporting the environment or objecting to
their
anti-environment position. Check the list below to see how your
Senators
voted.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Address: Your Senator, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20515
Key: + indicates a pro-environment vote, - indicates a vote against
the
environment, ? indicates an absence, 0 indicates an ineligibility to
vote.
Alabama
Shelby (R)
-
Sessions, J. (R) -
Alaska
Stevens (R)
-
Murkowski (R)
-
Arizona
McCain (R)
-
Kyl (R)
-
Arkansas
Hutchinson, T. (R) -
Lincoln (D)
+
California
Feinstein (D)
+
Boxer (D)
+
Colorado
Campbell, B. (R) -
Allard (R)
-
Connecticut
Dodd (D)
+
Lieberman (D)
+
Delaware
Roth (R)
+
Biden (D)
+
Florida
Graham, B. (D) +
Mack (R)
-
Georgia
Coverdell (R)
-
Cleland (D)
+
Hawaii
Inouye (D)
-
Akaka (D)
-
Idaho
Craig (R)
-
Crapo (R)
-
Illinois
Durbin (D)
+
Fitzgerald (R) +
Indiana
Lugar (R)
+
Bayh (D)
+
Iowa
Grassley (R)
-
Harkin (D)
+
Kansas
Brownback (R)
-
Roberts (R)
-
Kentucky
McConnell (R)
-
Bunning (R)
-
Louisiana
Breaux (D)
-
Landrieu (D)
+
Maine
Snowe (R)
+
Collins, S. (R) +
Maryland
Sarbanes (D)
+
Mikulski (D)
+
Massachusetts
Kennedy, E. (D) +
Kerry, J. (D)
+
Michigan
Levin, C. (D)
+
Abraham (R)
-
Minnesota
Wellstone (D)
+
Grams, R. (R)
-
Mississippi
Cochran (R)
-
Lott (R)
-
Missouri
Bond (R)
-
Ashcroft (R)
-
Montana
Baucus, M. (D) +
Burns (R)
-
Nebraska
Kerrey, R. (D) +
Hagel (R)
-
Nevada
Reid, H. (D)
+
Bryan (D)
+
New Hampshire
Smith, R.C. (R) +
Gregg (R)
-
New Jersey
Lautenberg (D) +
Torricelli (D) +
New Mexico
Domenici (R)
-
Bingaman (D)
+
New York
Moynihan (D)
-
Schumer (D)
+
North Carolina
Helms (R)
-
Edwards, J. (D) +
North Dakota
Conrad (D)
+
Dorgan (D)
+
Ohio
DeWine (R)
-
Voinovich (R)
-
Oklahoma
Nickles (R)
-
Inhofe (R)
-
Oregon
Wyden (D)
+
Smith, G. (R)
-
Pennsylvania
Specter (R)
-
Santorum (R)
-
Rhode Island
Reed, J. (D)
+
Chafee, L. (R) +
South Carolina
Thurmond, S. (R) -
Hollings (D)
+
South Dakota
Daschle (D)
+
Johnson, T. (D) +
Tennessee
Thompson, F. (R) -
Frist (R)
-
Texas
Gramm, P. (R)
-
Hutchison, K. (R) -
Utah
Hatch (R)
-
Bennett (R)
-
Vermont
Leahy (D)
+
Jeffords (R)
+
Virginia
Warner (R)
-
Robb (D)
+
Washington
Gorton, S. (R) -
Murray (D)
+
West Virginia
Byrd (D)
+
Rockefeller (D) +
Wisconsin
Kohl (D)
+
Feingold (D)
+
Wyoming
Thomas, C. (R) -
Enzi (R)
-