US House Panel Passes
ANWR Legislation

Forbes.com
Posted April 4, 2003

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON - The Republican-led House Resources Committee breathed new life into Bush's national energy policy on Wednesday, approving legislation to drill in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge while boosting incentives to encourage exploration in deep offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

The House committee voted 32 to 14 to authorize exploration in the Alaskan refuge, the centerpiece of the administration's energy plan focused on reducing the country's dependence on foreign suppliers.

Americans currently consume about 20 million barrels of oil each day and the Arctic refuge could contain as much as 16 billion barrels of oil.

"It may be a stop-gap solution, but it's part of the solution," said Rep. Richard Pombo, a California Republican who headed the committee. "But we have to develop an energy policy that addresses today and what is happening in our country and around the world," he said.

The support by the House committee has given the contentious energy debate new life, but ANWR remains an uphill battle for the Bush administration. The full Senate narrowly voted last month to keep the refuge land closed to oil companies.

Many Democrats contend that opening the region would permanently damage the land and its wildlife, and it would take nearly a decade to remove any oil that is discovered.

"It reflects the overwhelming sentiment of Americans that first we should improve fuel economy standards of how much oil we need" in automobiles and appliances, said Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, "before we go to a pristine wilderness that should be preserved for a thousand generations."

ROBIN HOOD

The committee voted 27 to 17 against an amendment by Markey to remove Arctic drilling from the bill. The ANWR bill will eventually be folded into legislation that is designed to significantly update U.S. energy policy for the first time in a decade.

The House panel also approved legislation to spur oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. The amendment would create a comprehensive inventory of oil and gas resources, and ease royalty-in-kind payments for companies the deeper they drilled.

"I am flabbergasted," said Rep. Nick Rahall, a West Virginia Democrat. "This legislation contains so many royalty reductions and kickbacks that the Treasury stands to lose a mint. Robin hood is turning in his grave."

Lawmakers voted 27 to 15 against a Democratic amendment to strip-out the royalty incentives.

Pombo and other Republicans defended the overall bill as providing a blend off solutions that address the country's short-term energy needs while pushing for the development of renewable sources in the future.

The committee's bill contained a provision to encourage the use of small trees and underbrush removed during forest thinning as a source of energy.

The legislation also included incentives to develop geothermal energy on public lands, and a separate measure to determine whether energy produced from existing hydroelectric facilities could be increased in the U.S.

Forbes.com

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