Murkowski prepared to roll Bingaman

Kay Cashman

Advocates for opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling met the morning of Sept. 27 in Washington, D.C., to share information and discuss strategy for the weeks ahead.

An Arctic Power spokesman who attended that meeting told PNA that while a clear strategy had not been mapped out, the consensus "seemed to be that Senate defense legislation was not an appropriate vehicle for an ANWR amendment because it was unlikely to pass the House. Instead, the White House, the labor unions, and the Republicans" are expected to put "huge pressure on Democrats in the Senate to produce an energy bill in the next 30-45 days."

If the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico, does not "play ball," Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski will "roll him."

A PNA source who works for the Senate energy committee explained: "Sen. Murkowski clearly has controlling votes on the committee. The energy bill is a big deal. It’s Bingaman’s first big project as chairman. … Things have been fairly routine until now. If Bingaman doesn't agree to include a provision to open ANWR, Murkowski will override him and take control — he’ll roll him. If he does, it will make Bingaman look ineffective."

It’s "pretty heavy-handed to roll a committee chairman," the Arctic Power spokesman said. "It can impact other votes on other legislation, but it’s clearly what’s going to happen unless some sort of compromise can be worked out by Bingaman on this issue."

Drilling advocates are confident that Congress will pass ANWR legislation because renewed concerns about national security have forced previously unsupportive Republican senators and several Democrats to put domestic energy reserves ahead of other considerations.

The Democrat leadership in the Senate says it is not in favor of approving such a measure because ANWR oil would take almost a decade to reach the market.