Drilling in Alaska Refuge Likelier as Senate Clears Tax Bill

Oil and gas drilling in a vast northern Alaskan wildlife refuge the U.S. government has protected since 1960 moved a step closer to reality on Saturday with the passage by U.S. Senate Republicans of the tax bill.

Republicans attached a measure introduced by Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski to the tax bill to open a portion of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.  The 51 to 49 passage of the tax overhaul early Saturday was a “critical milestone in our efforts to secure Alaska’s energy future,” Murkowski said.

Democrats and environmentalists deplore the prospect of development in ANWR, home to polar bears and millions of migrating birds and where Gwich‘in natives depend on migrating caribou.  Stitching ANWR legislation into the tax bill that only needed a majority in the 100-member chamber was a “back door move” that never would have passed as a stand alone bill requiring 60 votes, they said.

“Little wonder Senate Republicans rushed the vote:  it wouldn’t survive the light of public debate,” said Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group.

Talks on a final tax bill will likely begin next week between the Senate and the House of Representatives, which has already approved its own legislation.

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