Senate backs Alaska oil drilling

[MrSelf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4355871.stm

The US Senate has given its de facto approval to a plan to open up a remote wildlife refuge in the northern state of Alaska to oil drilling. Senators voted 51-49 against an amendment which would have struck the measure from the federal budget.

The plan has long been a key part of President Bush's energy plan, as a means to reduce US reliance on imports. Democrats and some Republicans have opposed the plan, arguing that the wilderness should be left untouched.

The 19 million acre (7.7 million hectare) Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as America's Serengeti, is home to caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife. It has been specifically protected by Congress from development.

Previous votes to remove the ban on drilling have failed, but the Senate's Republican majority increased after last year's elections. Democrats had tried to block the plan with a filibuster, but majority leaders put the provision into a budget document immune to these tactics.

Opponents of the plan were then forced to seek an amendment stripping the mention of drilling from the budget, but fell short of the required 51 votes in the 100-seat chamber.

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