Granting Alaska’s refuge a reprieve

Friday, Nov. 11, 2005 | 8:15 a.m.

Efforts to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling suffered a blow this week as a handful of Republican House moderates refused to support a $54 billion deficit-reduction bill if exploratory drilling was included.

Proposals to lift moratoriums on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts also were cut from the bill Wednesday as GOP lawmakers tried to gain enough votes to pass Bush's plan to cut Medicaid, food stamp and other social programs. They did not get the votes and continued haggling over details Thursday.

The Bush administration has long favored drilling a pristine coastal strip of the Arctic refuge looking for what experts predict would be a small amount of oil.

The Senate approved refuge drilling by a narrow margin earlier this year. And the House has repeatedly approved such drilling as part of an overall energy bill, only to see it blocked by Senate threat of a filibuster. Placing it in the budget bill this time around made it immune from such protection.

With President Bush and Republican leaders still staunchly supporting drilling in the refuge, the measure is likely to resurface and could easily end up in the final House-Senate version of the bill. So this week's victory is just a step, and the safety of America's crown jewel remains in question.