By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, Mar. 16 -- A traditionally reluctant US Senate has shown majority support for oil and gas leasing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Coastal Plain in Alaska.
By a 51-49 vote, senators rejected a proposal to remove the leasing provision from a budget bill. Supporters attached ANWR leasing to budget legislation to keep it from being subjected to a filibuster, which would have required 60 votes to break. The Senate and House still must approve budget legislation.
The 1.5-million-acre Coastal Plain contains some of the largest undrilled onshore structures in the US. Congress designated it a study area for possible leasing when it banned leasing of the remaining 17.5 million acres of ANWR in 1980.
The Department of Interior, after several years of geophysical study, recommended Coastal Plain leasing in 1987.
Congress was close to approving leasing when the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground and spilled crude in Alaska's Prince William Sound in March 1989. Support for the initiative faded after the accident.
In 1995, former President Bill Clinton vetoed a budget bill that included a leasing provision. More recently, the Senate has opposed energy bills passed by the House that approved ANWR leasing.
President George W. Bush supports exploration of ANWR's Coastal Plain.
The American Petroleum Institute called the Senate vote "a welcome critical step towards a comprehensive national energy policy that includes developing domestic oil and gas supplies."