Senate gets ANWR bill

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has introduced a companion bill to H.R. 5890, The American-Made Energy Freedom Act, which would open the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration.

Both the Senate and the House legislation, which was introduced by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. in July, would create a federal trust fund of approximately $40 billion from ANWR lease and royalty revenues, to be used for the research and development of domestic alternative energy supplies.

Both pieces of legislation call for the funds to be used for such things as tax credits on the production of cellulosic ethanol and coal-to-liquid fuel. And both bills fund many of the alternative energy provisions of the Energy Policy Act passed by Congress in 2005, such as extending the residential and business tax credits for solar and fuel cell investment through 2012 and funding various biofuel programs, all of which foster the production technology, facility construction, and capacity improvements for renewable fuels.

The bills limit oil and gas production to the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain (1002 area), leaving 17.5 million of ANWR’s acres untouched. Surface disturbance is further limited to no more than 2,000 acres.

No vote is expected on the bills until after the Nov. 7 election.