Stinging Defeat

At least our side won this one...for now...

"A quarter-century long fight over the nation's most divisive environmental issue rages on after the Senate on Wednesday rejected opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling — even though that provision was included in a must-pass bill that funds U.S. troops overseas and hurricane victims."

"It was a stinging defeat for Sen. Ted Stevens R-Alaska, one of the Senate's most powerful members, who had hoped to garner more votes by forcing senators to choose between supporting the drilling measure, or risking the political fallout from voting against money for the troops and hurricane victims."

Instead, Stevens found himself a few votes shy of getting his wish. Republican leaders could not break a Democratic filibuster threat over the drilling issue, falling three votes short of the 60 votes need to advance the defense spending bill to a final vote. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., left the bill in limbo as he, Stevens and other GOP leaders gauged their next move. The measure was widely expected to be withdrawn and reworked without the refuge language, although Stevens warned he was ready to stay until New Year's if necessary to fight for the drilling, a cause he has pursued for 25 of his 37 years in the Senate." [Yahoo]

Senator Stevens' fondest wish is to destroy the pristine wilderness of his home state. All told, there are some 10 billion barrels in the ground under this wildlife sanctuary, enough to fuel US consumption for all of SIX MONTHS. The republican argument is that this oil would fuel domestic reserves and reduce foreign consumption. Ummm...yeah, for SIX MONTHS! Let's go and destroy a virtually untouched wildlife preserve so we can get some oil. Great idea!