Looks like ole Senator Stevens is at it again with opening ANWR to drilling,
Jr. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is also a co-sponsor. I havent seen actual language of the bill yet, but the Anchorage Daily News report is below in italics.
At what point will the rest of America wake up to its own energy needs and develop our resources responsibly and making the effort to minimize our dependance on middle eastern oil.


adn.com | Alaska News : Senators launch new effort to open ANWR to drilling
Senators launch new effort to open ANWR to drilling

By Erika Bolstad
| ebolstad@adn.com

Published: March 13th, 2008 02:29 PM
Last Modified: March 13th, 2008 03:30 PM

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to capitalize on the concerns of consumers at the gas pump, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens introduced legislation today that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the price of oil hits $125 a barrel.

The senators hope that high oil prices, hovering at $110 a barrel this morning, will change the minds of fellow senators who, until now, have been opposed to opening the refuge to drilling.

"I think there was a time when we thought we would never see those prices," Murkowski said. "We've got to act as a nation to produce more for our country's needs. The reliance we have on foreign sources of oil, we all know, are at unhealthy levels."

Environmentalists say they are confident Murkowski and Stevens don't have 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster that would allow the bill to be heard.

They're also confident that outside of Alaska, there isn't public support for drilling in a national wildlife refuge, said Myke Bybee, a spokesman for the Sierra Club.

"No amount of oil and no amount of money is worth despoiling the Arctic Refuge," Bybee said. "I don't think there's support for opening up a special place like the Arctic refuge at any cost, at any amount of oil or at any cost of oil."

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

I think a bill nationalizing the oil reserves should be introduced, the federal government should get half the wellhead price, from every oil well in the US, this would help with the national debt and put us on the same basis as every other country that has oil reserves.

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"[i] was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on."
-- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, March 13, 2007

" I remember discussing with him this process of asking certain U.S. attorneys to resign."
-- Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Gonzales, testifying under oath, March 29, 2007

That one might be a tougher sell than this ANWR bill, Goober, but who knows.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

I'm all for Protecting nature and the animals. However we should drill the oil we have weather it's in alaska or off the coast. I don't know much about drilling for oil but would have to say it's pretty safe to do as far as spills go. There were 4 or 5 dericks that were ripped from their anchors during katrena sp and I don't remember hearing about any big spills so that leads me too believe it's pretty safe

Hi Wooyarn,
I understand where you are coming from. I would much rather protect the enviroment than harm it, and in Alaska we have had a few issues with spills and maintenance on the North Slope. But all things considered, with the exception of human error such as the Exxon Valdez, and the drunken idiot who shot the pipeline, things have gone alright for the most part over the last 30+ years all things considered and the technology is constantly improving.

As for offshore, I know they managed the issues with Katrina quite well. We have considerable offshore oil/gas reserves here as well. My concern with offshore in this enviroment, is that there is no proven way to clean up a spill through the sea ice that surrounds much of the state half the year.

I will gladly admit to having flipflopped on the ANWR issue over the years. Right now I am pro-drilling. Id like to see how Congress would react if all the workers on the oil fields in the north went on strike for a month and the price pushed to $200 a barrel. I doubt this would happen but it seems to be a more common suggestion up here as of late.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

I am actually closer to Adak than I am to where they do the ice road trucking. That is done largely in Canada in the Yukon and NWT. Where I live, %75 of goods are flown in. The rest comes in the summer on boat. No road connection to my community.

In terms of oil spills, again, most Alaskans are very weary of that possibility. 19 years later and one can go to Prince William Sound and dig down less than a foot and readily find oil left over the Exxon Valdez spill.

As for frostbite, well as a life long Alaskan, who has lived in areas that make Adak look like the Banana belt, only got frost bit once on nose tip. Keep those hands covered up. But thanks for your service in SAR. It is critical in this area. Those efforts arent overlooked and underappreciated.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

Hopefully the politicians in office stop listening to the enviro-wackjobs and allow drilling in ANWR.

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"There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”—Theodore Roosevelt

I still think we need to invest in harvesting shale oil. We've got a ton of it in the continental US, which would make it cheaper in the long run than getting it out of Alaska.

Alaska - Brought to you courtesy of a man with political courage who managed to acquire it in spite of the constant attacks from the "intellectuals" of his day.

History, as it seems, has treated him well.

As it will GWB.

As for the reserve, open it up. Duh. What are we waiting for? You think the Russians would be putting up with this environmental wacko bullshit if they still owned Alaska? The answer is no.

If the damned hippies love it so much, they should all move to ANWR. Better have extra-thick socks with your Birkenstocks.

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"Compassionate Conservatism"?!?! Stupid phrase. Conservatism is inherently compassionate. It is liberalism that is cruel for the sake of maintaining a constituency.

Why aren't we drilling for the much more accessable oil reserves off the coast of Florida?

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Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

IIRC, GWB was working on getting ANWR open, then those pesky Muslims flew into some buildings here...kinda sidetracked some things along the way.

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I am an American. That's the way most of us put it, just matter of factly. They are plain words, those four: you could write them on your thumbnail, or sweep them clear across this bright autumn sky. But remember too, that they are more than just words. They are a way of life. So whenever you speak them, speak them firmly, speak them proudly, speak them gratefully. I am an American. ...a tradition

Amen to that, a man of true glory.

Well other people have oil atm which we can trade with them for, eventually we'll turn to our own reserves at sme point though FL is the exception. everyone from Jebbie to the energy department of Bill Richardson seem pretty much (unanimously) to say no that. Alaska though we should be drilling for oil in immedietly, its just ridiculous not to.

That's easy. Because jebhaliburtonrovecheneyenronneoconisrael, of course.

Duh.

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"Compassionate Conservatism"?!?! Stupid phrase. Conservatism is inherently compassionate. It is liberalism that is cruel for the sake of maintaining a constituency.