Senate Rejects Oil Drilling in Arctic Reserve

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Bush administration plan to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), voting 52-48 to strip the provision from a budget resolution, the Associated Press reported.

AP said eight Republicans broke with their party to vote against the drilling, while all but five Democrats opposed it. The House had already approved it, but AP reported that drilling advocates said the Senate action probably kills the plan for this Congress.

Alaska Republican Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a leading proponent of ANWR drilling, told senators that if they voted against the measure they were voting against him and he would not forget it, the newswire reported.

Bush and many other Republicans have argued that tapping the refuge oil was a necessary part of a strategy to make this country less dependent on foreign oil.

Environmentalists and many Democrats have said drilling there could damage the wilderness ecology and that the country should instead pursue conservation measures such as tougher vehicle fuel economy standards.