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ENVIRONMENT
& ENERGY DAILY
Friday, March 10, 2006
SPOTLIGHT
1. ANWR: Senate floor is next for Arctic drilling
Ben
Geman, E&E Daily senior reporter
Inclusion of Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge oil drilling in the fiscal year 2007 budget survived its first
challenge yesterday when the Senate Budget Committee rejected an amendment to
strike the language on a 9-11 party line vote.
The budget resolution was later approved by the
committee in an 11-10 vote, with floor action -- and likely further challenges
-- expected next week. Drilling supporters mustered a slim majority last year,
but floor passage of another resolution that includes ANWR would be one of just
several steps needed to allow leasing.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) led the effort to eliminate a $3
billion reconciliation instruction to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee from the resolution during a markup yesterday. Energy Committee
Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) plans to raise the money by authorizing lease
sales on the refuge's coastal plain.
And Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) came under attack
from Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and several other anti-drilling GOP moderates
over including ANWR again in this year's budget process. Use of the budget
process is key because budget measures cannot be filibustered.
"As you know, the budget process was
designed to ensure that important fiscal matters be debated and decided swiftly.
Congress should not be making environmental and energy policy decisions of this
magnitude on the budget bill," states a letter released yesterday from
Sens. Snowe, John McCain (R-Ariz.), Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Susan Collins
(R-Maine) and Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.).
But Domenici, in speaking against Feingold's amendment during
yesterday's markup, called the matter one of basic fairness. He said ANWR should
be entitled to an up-or-down vote rather than subject to
filibuster.
Nineteen
Democrats -- including Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) -- also attacked the
renewed ANWR push with their own letter yesterday to Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). The Democrats call projected lease revenues "highly
speculative" numbers irresponsible to assume in the budget.
The Congressional Budget Office
estimates lease sale revenues at $6 billion, which would be split 50-50 with the
state of Alaska, while the White House uses an even higher figure. The Democrats
who signed the letter include Sens. Reid, Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Jeff Bingaman
(N.M.). John Kerry (Mass.), Joe Lieberman (Conn.) and others.
Gregg's proposed budget resolution does
not seek to trim mandatory spending programs, such as health entitlements, which
is considered very tough in an election year, leaving ANWR as the sole item to
be addressed in the subsequent reconciliation process.
The Senate decision to avoid a push on
mandatory spending cuts this year has major ramifications for the drilling
effort, especially if House lawmakers were to forgo or limit efforts to cut
mandatory programs in their budget process. Last year, ANWR cleared the Senate
as part of a controversial spending cut package, but it was jettisoned in the
House debate over spending reconciliation plans amid revolt by anti-drilling GOP
moderates.
It remains
unclear if the House budget will seek mandatory spending cuts or pave the way
for the House Resources Committee to authorize ANWR leasing. Introduction of the
budget resolution has been delayed in that chamber.
A spokeswoman for the House Budget Committee indicated
Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) may try to slow mandatory spending growth
again this year but did not provide details. "That is a discussion that has been
ongoing," the aide said. "We are not there yet as far as a final number or final
decision at this point." The aide said it is Nussle's "intention and hope" to
continue reforming spending programs.
Environmentalists launched attacks on the ANWR effort throughout
the day, with a GOP environmental group linking it to recent GOP ethics scandals
and claiming it could hurt the party at the ballot box. Inclusion of ANWR in the
budget will "feed the impression that our party is ethically bankrupt,"
according to David Jenkins, government affairs director for Republicans for
Environmental Protection.
"Concocting a one-issue budget plan to ram through an unpopular
pork-barrel scheme represents a new low in ethical lapses. This could be the
last straw that convinces voters to throw the Republican majority out," Jenkins
said in a prepared statement, adding it could harm GOP members in swing
districts.