Crudely speaking, Senate’s tax bill taps Arctic refuge

WASHINGTON — Oil and gas drilling in a vast northern Alaskan wildlife refuge the U.S. government has protected since 1960 moved a step closer to reality Saturday with the passage by U.S. Senate Republicans of the tax bill.

Republicans attached a measure introduced by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to the tax bill to open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR. The 51-49 passage of the tax overhaul was a “critical milestone in our efforts to secure Alaska’s energy future,” Murkowski said.

Democrats and environmentalists deplore the prospect of development in ANWR, home to polar bears, millions of migrating birds and the migrating caribou on which Gwich’in natives depend. Stitching ANWR legislation into the tax bill, which needed only a majority in the 100-member chamber, was a “back door move” that never would have passed as a stand alone bill requiring 60 votes, they said.

Talks on a final tax bill will likely begin next week between the Senate and the House of Representatives, which has already approved its own legislation.

President Donald Trump, a Republican who favors producing as much fossil fuel as possible for domestic consumption and exports, wants the chambers to reach a deal on the tax overhaul legislation before the end of the year.

President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, set aside the refuge in 1960. President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, expanded it in 1980. But that year, Congress established the 1002 area of the refuge for potential drilling after the Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution in the 1970s caused fears of fuel shortages.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 1998 that the 1002 area, a 1.5 million-acre portion on the northwest coast of ANWR, holds up to 12 billion barrels of recoverable crude.

Twelve Republicans in the House who oppose ANWR drilling wrote a letter to leaders in the Senate and House late last week. They said that the resources in the refuge “simply are not necessary for our nation’s energy independence” and that lawsuits would likely accompany any development.