Re: THE Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Thread (merge
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I guess nobody should be surprised, but it turns out opening ANWR to drilling is a bipartisan position in Alaska itself where the drilling will actually take place. Other issues are also discussed in the rest of the article at the link below the ANWR quote.
https://www.adn.com/politics/2016/11/09 ... ect-trump/
Three potential changes immediately caught the imagination of Alaska Republicans in the wake of Trump's victory: drilling, regulations and getting that road to King Cove.
A is for ANWR
The election was up for grabs late Tuesday evening, but as the vote tallies took a positive turn for Trump, the ghost of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was almost immediately in the air. And as soon as it was clear Republicans had held onto the U.S. House and Senate, pro-development Alaskans could already taste oil.
As Sen. Lisa Murkowski circulated at an election night party at a downtown Anchorage brewery, so did talk of opening ANWR. The Associated Press had called the race for Murkowski, and she huddled near the stage to talk to a few reporters about Trump, her victory and the Senate's continued Republican majority.
A reporter had just begun to ask Murkowski what might become of ANWR when someone wandered over and shoved a smartphone under her face, interrupting the exchange midsentence. On the screen it said Trump had been elected president.
"More Than a Feeling," by Boston, blared in the background. Murkowski's eyes grew wide and her face froze.
"Can I see that again?" she asked when he pulled the phone down. She stared at it for a solid 30 seconds before looking up, saying "I've got to go check this out," and walked away to talk with staff in a corner.
When she returned a few minutes later, the situation was no longer hypothetical.
"Well, as you know, we have been working to advance ANWR for decades now. And we need to have the support of the Congress," Murkowski said. As of yet, it wasn't clear if they'd have the numbers.
"But if the numbers continue for us with the Senate and you have a president who has expressed support, I will be chairing the energy committee again, and I am going to look to push that early on," she said.
The Senate Republican majority will be just 51 or 52 members, depending on a runoff election in Louisiana.
Former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich and former Republican Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, writing on the Midnight Sun political blog, said Tuesday night they would love to get ANWR into Trump's plan for his first 100 days in office.
Begich would be happy to drum up support among moderate Democratic lawmakers, he said. "That's the kind of stuff I'd do pro-bono."
"I would suspect that the opening of ANWR actually has a fairly good chance (when) Republicans hold" both Congress and the White House, said Bob Gillam, founder of McKinley Capital Management, who has known Trump since the two graduated from business school together.
https://www.adn.com/politics/2016/11/09 ... ect-trump/