December 21, 2005
Senate Blocks Measure to Allow Arctic Drilling

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:44 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support.

Drilling supporters fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

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5 years into his term, dubya's not got the political capital to get this passed. It was really dirty politics for that SOB REBPUG Alaskan senator, Mr Bridge to Nowhere, to stick the ANWR item into the military spending bill. ing corrupt bas .

Had dubya spent the past 5 years pushing hard for oil conservation (which would hurt his paymasters at the oilcos), the oil saved every year would surpass the oil extracted ONCE from ANWR. I remember reading something where the is only 6 months of gasoline consumption in ANWR.