The Senate Energy Committee has approved the ANWR bill to open up oil
drilling in the northern parts of Alaska.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Energy Committee voted on
Wednesday to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling
as part of a broad budget bill to fund the federal government.

Tapping the refuge’s billions of barrels of crude oil is a key part of
the Bush administration’s national energy plan to boost domestic production.
Environmental groups and many Democrats oppose drilling, saying that instead
of threatening the habitat of wildlife in ANWR, lawmakers should look at
ways to cut oil consumption with more fuel-efficient vehicle standards.

The refuge, which is about the size of South Carolina, sprawls across
more than 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska. It is home to polar
bears, musk oxen, caribou and migratory birds.

The energy panel approved the ANWR drilling provision, 13-9. All
Republicans on the committee voted in favor of the plan, plus Democrats Mary
Landrieu of Louisiana and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii.

Full story

here.

This is a step in the wrong direction. We need to work harder at developing
alternative energies instead of stripping the Earth of more resources. I guess
that record breaking cat-5 Wilma still isn’t enough of a message. Maybe the next
ice age will make the political leaders realize the failings of their ways.