Sen. Stevens proposes making ANWR part of oil reserve
Anchorage, Alaska - Sen. Ted Stevens has a new strategy for opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.
At a news conference this afternoon here in Anchorage, Stevens said he wants to make ANWR part of the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Democrats have blocked oil drilling in ANWR for years, but Stevens says it only makes sense to tap the area's vast reserves for the nation's emergency energy supply.
"I think it is in the national interest to be able to produce from ANWR, and certainly, by the time we could get it ready to produce it would be a ready reserve," said Stevens, R-Alaska.