>
Article snippet: Updated, Oct. 20: Republicans moved closer to opening oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with a Senate budget vote late Thursday, setting off a new political scramble over the future of the pristine habitat in northern Alaska. The dispute over the refuge has been simmering for decades. But with Republicans holding both houses of Congress and the presidency, the prospects for opening the refuge, at least to studies of its oil and gas potential, are better than they have been in years. The Senate’s budget blueprint, which passed 51-49, doesn’t specifically target the refuge; it directs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to come up with legislation reducing the federal deficit by $1 billion over the next 10 years. Allowing drilling in the Alaskan wilderness, however, is considered the most likely way to raise the funds to reach that figure, and Republicans made clear they intended to act quickly to make it happen. “We need to be expanding our energy development in our federal areas,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican who chairs the energy committee and who has long pressed for drilling in the refuge. Democrats narrowly lost a vote on an amendment that would have removed the instructions to the Senate energy panel that could result in drilling legislation. But conservation groups insist there are still opportunities to quash the effort. Here’s a look at what is happening and why, and what is at stake. The Arctic Na... Link to the full article to read more