SUV vs. ANWR. The Democrats have turned down the ANWR related portion of Bush's energy policy this past April. Does this mean that the United States can't/won't wean itself from its unsatisfiable appetite for Arab oil? Isn't it wiser to spend American money in the good old U. S. A. if we have the resources? Our Congress must not think so, not even if it means breaching national security or strengthening the economy by offering 1,000's of new jobs.

Democrats Try to Squash Energy Policy
by Susan Hollis

After enjoying months of unprecedented bipartisan support in Congress, the Bush Administration suffered a significant legislative defeat in April when Senate Democrats successfully thwarted the centerpiece of President Bush's energy policy. Despite several eleventh-hour attempts at compromise by Republicans, the final vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to prevent a Democratic filibuster threat designed to block an amendment to Bush's energy bill that would have allowed drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

Formerly in the oil business himself, President Bush made the issue of US dependence on foreign oil a key theme in his energy policy and touted that reducing our dependence was a matter of national security. With America importing most of its oil from Arab countries, the current crisis in the Middle East as well as Saddam Hussein's declaration to cease Iraq's oil exports for 30 days in a show of support for Palestine's struggle with Israel, has caused some government officials to reconsider the need to increase US domestic oil production. The debate became especially heated in the Senate, where Democrats, who hold a narrow majority over Republicans, fought bitterly over the amendment due to, among other reasons, environmental concerns.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1960 to protect the unspoiled conditions of Alaska's coastal plain. ANWR is home to various forms of wildlife, including Alaska's porcupine caribou herd, which many environmentalists believe will be irrevocably harmed if drilling were permitted in the refuge. Despite the risk of pollution and oil spills, environmental groups claim that the roads, machinery, and infrastructure needed to retrieve and transport any oil beneath ANWR would interfere with the caribou's calving grounds and thereby jeopardize the existence of an already diminishing herd.

Even though Republicans offered to restrict the drilling to only 2,000 acres of the nearly 19 million acre refuge, Democrats insisted that the damage to the environment would not be worth the limited amount of oil available in ANWR. While assorted government reports place the amount of oil anywhere from 6 to 16 billion barrels, Democrats argued that at the most it would only be sufficient to sustain US demand for 6 months and that retrieving the oil would take nearly ten years to complete, making the Republicans national security argument for an immediate increase in domestic production seem obsolete.

Alaska's Senators Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, both Republican, fought relentlessly for the inclusion of the ANWR amendment in the Senate's energy bill, but the final vote of 54 Senators opposing and only 46 supporting the amendment was an obvious legislative setback for the Republicans. Even before the votes were cast, Stevens and Murkowski blamed the impending defeat on extremist environmental organizations who they assert passed on misinformation about the dangers of drilling in ANWR, which the Senators claim has cost the state of Alaska millions of dollars in revenue as well as tens of thousands of jobs.

Considering the number of potential jobs at stake, some of the usually Democratic leaning labor unions were actually supporting the amendment along side Republicans. However, Senate Democrats were not swayed by either the promise of jobs or the threat to national security. Instead they insist that our energy crisis would be better solved by conservation and innovation. They recommend developing more efficient and clearer sources of energy, but with a country populated with gas guzzling SUV loving constituents, it is more likely that the American public would approve of drilling in ANWR before they agreed to sacrifice their beloved Sport Utility Vehicles to higher fuel efficiency standards.

This issue is far from over however. With the ANWR provision included in the bill passed by the House of Representatives, this topic will be revisited in the conference committee as they reconcile the House and Senate versions of this legislation into a single energy bill. Senate Republicans are hopeful that if the amendment is part of the final draft then Democrats will be more reluctant to vote against the entire energy policy, thus allowing the drilling to take place. Either way, ANWR will in all probability become a major campaign issue during elections this fall, as both parties fight for control of the Senate. Democrats have already started painting Republicans as environmentally unfriendly, greedy capitalists, willing to destroy an unblemished wildlife refuge in their quest to please the big businesses of the energy industry. However, this issue could come back to haunt the Democrats in November if the Mid East crisis intensifies, causing oil prices to rise, then the Republicans will be in a better position to criticizing Democrats for perpetuating our dependence on foreign oil and risking our national security, not to mention blaming them for higher prices at the pump. Whatever the future holds for the issue of drilling in ANWR, the country can, at least for awhile, rest secure in the knowledge that as long as the Senate is under Democratic control, Alaska's porcupine caribou herd shall not perish for the earth.

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Susan Hollis graduated with a degree in Political Science from Oklahoma State University. Her educational background consists of a mixture of studies in both domestic and foreign affairs. She has been an intern for a United States Senator at the US Capitol in Washington DC, where she obtained firsthand knowledge of the legislative process by watching it in action. During her internship, Susan had the opportunity to observe congressional hearings, deal with constituent services, and contribute to legislative research. Ms. Hollis has also had the chance to participate with a congressional campaign for the US House of Representatives.

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