WASHINGTON -- Alaska's congressional delegation came out swinging against the latest version of a proposal to ban drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, although the bill has little chance of passage.
The legislation, introduced Wednesday night by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would designate the coastal plains region of ANWR as wilderness, effectively banning oil and gas exploration.
All three members of Alaska's delegation condemned the bill. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young issued a joint statement vowing to defeat the proposed ban.
"We take all attacks on Alaska's ability to develop its natural resources seriously," said Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for Stevens. "Particularly when it's extreme environmentalists from out of state who don't understand our ability to contribute to American's energy independence."
The area has "the largest untapped domestic oil field in the United States and would provide our nation with a million barrels of oil per day for at least three decades," the three lawmakers said in their statement. "Instead of blocking resource development, Congress must increase our domestic production of energy,"
But Lieberman, who also is the co-sponsor of bipartisan global warming legislation moving through the Senate, countered that "America's strength is not in our oil reserves, but in our reserves of innovation. The answer is not to drill in our national treasures but to increase our energy efficiency and find alternative and renewable sources of energy."
It's the ninth time Lieberman has sponsored or co-sponsored a federal ban on drilling in ANWR. The issue has been one of his legislative priorities since his 1987 Senate campaign.
A ban on drilling has better odds of success in a Democratic Congress, but there still are probably not enough votes in the Senate to see it passed. Several Democratic senators have indicated they simply won't support a ban: Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Yet there aren't enough votes to open up ANWR to drilling, either, continuing the stalemate.
Find Erika Bolstad online at adn.com/contact/ebolstad or call her in Washington, D.C., at 1-202-383-6104.
