Roger Herrera, a former BP geologist who has been working for a number of years to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration, told the Resource Development Council conference Nov. 18 that even with a larger number of Republican senators following the general election, opening the coastal plain of ANWR is not a done deal.
“There is no such thing as a slam dunk,” Herrera said, encouraging continued support for Arctic Power, which works to open the coastal plain for exploration, and inviting conference attendees to a Dec. 1 fundraiser at 5:30 p.m. at the Petroleum Club in Anchorage, “to help fund Arctic Power’s effort in Washington, D.C.”
Those opposed to opening the coastal plain “are not going to play dead just because they see their backs are against the wall as a result of the recent election,” he said.
The count in the U.S. Senate is now 54 or 55 in favor, “on a good day,” but 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster, he said.
ANWR a revenue-generating issue
Because opening the coastal plain of ANWR is a revenue-generating issue, it “can be put into budget bills, and probably will be, come February-March next year,” Herrera said. “As such it cannot be filibustered in the United States Senate — it requires only a majority vote.”
But, he said, “there is no such thing as a political slam dunk in our nation’s capital.”
There are roadblocks, even in the House of Representatives which has passed ANWR provisions three times.
For example, he said, some 30 moderate Republicans in the House have signed a letter objecting to inclusion of ANWR in a budget bill.
Typically more than 30 House Democrats have supported opening ANWR, but, Herrera said, the objection could force a vote along party lines, and prevent ANWR from being put in a budget bill, which brings the lack of 60 votes in the Senate into play again.
“I think all of us should be losing sleep until the day President Bush signs his signature on the bottom line of an open-ANWR bill,” hence the invitation to the Dec. 1 fundraiser.
