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More on Ted Steven's deal to close ANWR votes. As some of you know,
Alaska residents receive an annual state bonus for living there, historically
derived from fuel production revenues. But in the past 5 years or so, the kitty
was getting very low. Thus, the added incentive for the state’s senior Senator
to ‘close the sale’ on drilling in ANWR to replenish its coffers – and no
doubt, a nice golden parachute along the way. In the estimated 10 years time before drilling would actually commence,
the state would benefit from a windfall massive jobs program, like the one that
the Gulf States are/were allegedly to receive post-Katrina. Anyone care to wager who wins this
sordid battle? - kwc New twist in ANWR
deal: Katrina-states would have a stake in oil revenues SF Chronicle, Washington Bureau, Monday,
December 19, 2005 Republican leaders
brokered a deal Sunday to send billions of dollars of revenue from oil drilling
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to states affected by Hurricanes
Katrina, Rita and Wilma, part of a last-ditch effort to pass the controversial
drilling plan. A spending bill that
includes drilling in the Alaskan refuge appeared headed for passage in the
House early today but was expected to face a much tougher battle in the Senate
this week. Drilling in the refuge had appeared all but dead for the year but
was resurrected last week by Republican leaders who are trying a new strategy:
attaching it to a must-pass $453 billion defense appropriations bill, which
would pay for the war in Iraq and provide money for hurricane relief and avian
flu preparedness. Sen. Ted Stevens,
R-Alaska, who has fought to pass drilling for 25 years, added the new
"sweeteners" this weekend to win over lawmakers from Gulf Coast
states affected by the hurricanes. Lawmakers on a joint House-Senate conference
committee voted Sunday to back Stevens' plan, which also included more money
for a low-income heating program, border security and farm programs. But critics decried
the deal as an effort to buy off lawmakers who oppose drilling by linking
hurricane relief -- a popular cause among most members of Congress -- with the
controversial drilling plan in Alaska. "The senator from Alaska announced that he will also
take advantage of the suffering people of the Gulf Coast by tying badly needed
relief funds to the speculative revenues in his drilling plan," said Bill Meadows, president of
the Wilderness Society. Under the new deal, 80%
of the money the federal government gets from lease sales in the refuge would
go to state and local governments in 5 states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Texas and Florida. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that lease
sales would generate about $5 billion in revenue, which would be split with
Alaska. The 5
hurricane-affected states could also be big winners in the long run, gaining 20%
of all royalties from drilling starting in the year 2015. Louisiana would get
50 percent of the revenue, Mississippi would get 25 percent, Alabama and Texas
would each get 10 percent, and Florida would get 5 percent. Stevens told the Congressional
Quarterly on Friday that his so-called Gulf Coast Recovery Fund would help
Louisiana and other states with the long-term rebuilding effort. "The levees will be
paid for when we drill in ANWR," Stevens said. Drilling supporters
predicted a victory in the House, but all sides believe the real test will come
in the Senate later this week. Democrats, including Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,
have pledged to filibuster the entire defense appropriations bill over the
drilling provision. Senate Majority Leader
Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters Sunday he had the 60 votes needed to defeat
a filibuster. But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a drilling opponent, said
she believes supporters have only 58 votes -- two votes shy of their goal. The drilling measure
would open the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain at the northern tip of the refuge
to drilling. Supporters say the measure could help ease America's dependence on
foreign oil. But opponents believe
drilling could destroy one of the last mostly untouched areas of Alaska's north
coast, which is home to caribou, polar bears, musk ox and migratory birds. The new strategy of
attaching drilling to the defense bill has put many lawmakers who oppose
drilling in a bind: If they reject the bill, they could be seen as casting a
vote against the troops or Hurricane Katrina victims. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has
opposed drilling in the past, said he would be forced to ultimately vote for
the bill, even if it opens up the Alaskan refuge. "I can't not support funding of the war. We're in a
war," McCain said on ABC's "This Week." But McCain added that
the last-minute strategy to pass drilling was more evidence of a polarized
Congress that can't find common ground. "We're putting a drilling in an
Arctic Wildlife Refuge on a defense appropriations bill that's supposed to pay
for our military operations throughout the world. ... Our system is broken," he said. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/19/MNGMJGAA3P1.DTL |
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