Daschle: ANWR drilling all but dead

by The Associated Press

President Bush’s plan to drill for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is all but dead for now, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said March 3.

Debate on the administration’s energy plan is under way in the Senate.

An amendment that would expand domestic production of fuel, principally by drilling in ANWR, is opposed by most Senate Democrats and about a half-dozen GOP senators. Republicans have acknowledged they lack the 60 votes needed to break an expected Democratic filibuster on the bill.

Daschle, D-S.D., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that opponents still had not rounded up the required votes.

When asked, “So it’s dead?” Daschle said, “Well, at least right now it is, correct.”

The GOP-led House has passed a bill that would open up the plain, an area of 1.5 million acres where the oil and gas are believed to be located.

See the Senate Energy Committee’s web site for additional information: http://energy.senate.gov