From: Vicky Hoover Sierra Club Alaska Task Force 415)977-5527 [log in to unmask] Did we say the Arctic Coastal Plain is "safe" for this Congress? Well -- we said, most likely, but with the Shrub making a big new push to get Arctic drilling into the final Energy bill -- it's time for all of us to give our two Senators AND our Congressional representatives a new reminder that Arctic Refuge oil drilling is UNACCEPTABLE to AMERICA. Tell the Senate to STAND FIRM in its good resolution voted on last April. __________ President gives ANWR a push MURKOWSKI: Bush says he wants drilling plan included in energy bill. By Liz Ruskin Anchorage Daily News (Published: September 26, 2002) Washington -- President Bush called House and Senate energy bill negotiators to the White House on Wednesday, pressing them to finish their work on the bill and restating his support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "The president said, 'I want an energy bill, and I want ANWR in it,' " Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said afterward. The bill is in the hands of a conference committee that is trying to reconcile the House-passed energy bill with the Senate's. The House version would open the refuge's 1.5 million-acre coastal plain to exploration. The Senate bill would keep the refuge closed to development. The chairman of the conference, Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., is determined to finish the bill next week. Tauzin, an ardent supporter of opening the refuge, has pledged to make Senate Democrats "an offer they can't refuse" to push the drilling proposal through. Tauzin said Tuesday he might try to trade the climate-change policies the Democrats want for the ANWR development the Republicans want. At the White House on Wednesday he proposed a more limited plan of drilling -- opening part of the coastal plain while protecting other areas from development. "It's what many people are willing to consider if anyone's willing to listen," Tauzin told a Dow Jones reporter. "The president listened very attentively, but he did not take a position." Murkowski brought mounted maps to the White House to describe the concept. He said, though, that there's no concrete proposal on scaling back development of the coastal plain. "Well, it's all open now (in the House version) and reducing it means less would be open, in theory, OK?" he told reporters. "But please understand there's no definitive determination at this time associated with anything more than discussions." It is just "part of the mix" before the negotiators, he said. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, said he didn't think even a scaled-back ANWR deal could get through the Senate. "I've answered this question so many times I don't know how to say it again," said Bingaman, D-N.M. "I think there's strong opposition in the Senate to opening ANWR to development and that's still my impression." He and Murkowski said provisions that might spur construction of a pipeline for North Slope natural gas came up in the White House discussion but only in a general way. The administration has said it opposes the price guarantees Murkowski attached to the Senate bill. Like Alaska as a whole, Murkowski has a lot riding on this energy bill. Murkowski, who is running for governor, has been trying for virtually his entire Senate career to open ANWR and get a gas line built. Winning legislation on those two mega-projects would be the biggest achievement of his years in office. ------- snip (more follows on his plan for dealing with Alaska's state government "budget gap") Reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at 202-383-0007 or [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]