Progressive Talking Points 12/22/05

Drilling for a Plan

In a severe defeat to oil drilling backers, the Senate yesterday blocked an attempt to open Alaska’s wildlife refuge to oil drilling. Sen. Ted Stevens and other conservative lawmakers’ attempt to attach the amendment to a must-pass military budget bill was rebuffed by a vote of 56-44. The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has yet to be determined, but what is certain is that drilling in Alaska will not solve our oil dependency problem.

• The Senate Rules could not help conservative lawmakers push their agenda this time. The Senate stood up to Sen. Stevens and those who tried to hijack the defense spending bill. When the drilling language was removed, they quickly and overwhelmingly approved the bill with a 93-0 vote. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) has threatened to put drilling into a filibuster-proof bill next year, signaling that conservatives are not ready to give up their special interest fight.
  
  
• Oil drilling in Alaska is not the answer to our nation’s energy crisis. The American people know this, but somebody has to tell Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). Stevens has been pushing oil drilling in his home state for 25 years to no avail. Drilling would only mean the "equivalent of about 1 cent per gallon of gasoline at the pump, nowhere near the amount needed to make a dent in our energy crisis.
  
  
• The way to fix our nation’s energy crisis is through a real energy bill. Congress had an opportunity to affect real change with this year’s energy bill, but they instead catered to special interests and did nothing to address our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The Center for American Progress has a plan to wean ourselves from oil addiction by moving away from oil dependence, enhancing domestic energy supply, prioritizing energy efficiency to enhance supply and improve reliability, and tackling global warming.