President George W. Bush's new budget for fiscal 2004 assumes that the Department of the Interior would generate $2.4 billion from a 2005 lease sale to companies interested in the northeast portion of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
About half the proceeds from the proposed sale would be earmarked for the Department of Energy's renewable energy technology research programs over 7 years.
The administration plans to lease 400,000-600,000 acres of the coastal plain. About 19 million acres are designated as refuge; the Republican-controlled Congress is considering allowing a portion of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain to be made available for leasing. Lawmakers could address ANWR leasing as early as this month when it considers a budget resolution.
Under a House energy bill approved by the White House last year, only 2,000 acres within the coastal plain would be available for leasing. The Senate last year, then under Democratic control, defeated ANWR proposals by a big enough margin to block further debate.
This year, the provision remains so controversial that Republican leaders may include a leasing provision in the budget plan because it cannot be blocked by parliamentary maneuvers such as filibusters.
Environmental groups say a decision by the White House or Republican supporters in Congress to include ANWR under a budget resolution could be politically dangerous. The Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club unveiled a new poll that they said showed overwhelming support by voters against drilling in ANWR.
Meanwhile, six Republican senators called on the leadership not to include ANWR as part of the upcoming budget. Those senators are: John McCain of Arizona, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.
The senators sent a letter to the Senate leadership objecting to inserting language opening the refuge into the must-pass budget bill.
Ethanol, other fuels
The new budget seeks to extend ethanol's excise tax exemption and income tax credit through Dec. 31, 2010. The excise tax is now scheduled to expire Sept. 30, 2007; the income tax credit, in December of the same year.
The administration's plans also exclude any funding for fuel oil shipments to North Korea, but officials have suggested they may seek funding later if negotiations on the country's nuclear program are resolved.
Under a 1994 energy deal, the US agreed to help supply fuel oil to the communist country provided the North Koreans halted their nuclear program.