| U.S. House Votes to Open ANWR! |
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WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives voted for the twelfth time in 37 years to open the coastal plain of ANWR to oil and gas development. The vote was 237-187 with 21 Democrats voting in favor of development and 21 Republicans voting against. Ten members failed to vote. Debate lasted two days and included nearly 20 amendments and ended Thursday at 4:57pm Washington time with a Motion to Recommit which was defeated 176-241.
Successful Final Passage occurred shortly after at 6:19pm in a 15 minute vote (ROLL CALL VOTE 71). The vote was on HR 3408 which included oil and gas provisions split off from the original HR 7 Transportation Infrastructure bill. These four provisions included: opening the coastal plain of ANWR to oil and gas development; opening the US Outer Continental Shelf areas to oil and gas exploration including revenue sharing; encouraging oil shale development nationwide; and mandating the approval of the Keystone Pipeline Project. The four provisions were stripped out of the Transportation bill Tuesday night in part to clarify the bill and ensure of their success. Much opposition to the original HR 7 had come from conservative groups opposed to the spending mechanisms mandated in the original bill. Once the oil and gas provisions were clear of HR 7 support opened up and the four measures won easy passage. The extent of the bipartisan result of the bill was unusual for an ANWR bill as often results follow party lines much more closely. In Alaska votes on ANWR receive near unanimous support from legislators of both parties and have been supported by every single Governor. HR 3408 will now be passed to the Senate where strong opposition lies to its future. Senator Bingaman of New Mexico who chairs the Senate Energy Committee is against oil development in ANWR as well as the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). He will most likely kill the bill in Committee. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also sports a track record against oil development voting consistently against ANWR and OCS development. Similarly he is not in favor of Keystone Pipeline. The President has threatened to veto any legislation including Keystone. Below links to the vote count on HR 3408 |