Arctic Drilling Hinges On One Vote

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2003

CBS) Soaring energy prices and the precarious nature of Persian Gulf oil are boosting the chances Congress will approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.

A showdown is nearing in the Senate on whether to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the Bush administration's top domestic priorities, and both sides say the outcome could hinge on a single vote. ……………….

Democrats, led by presidential aspirants Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts, vowed to filibuster any drilling proposal.

©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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MSNBC Transcripts

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Feb. 18 Read the transcript to Tuesday's 7 p.m. show

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MATTHEWS: How about ANWR? You guys (teamsters) want to see ANWR because you want to see guys (teamsters) working in your business. I guess there‘s a lot of Teamsters jobs up there lined up and organized, if you could put a pipeline up to the Alaska wilderness. He (Kerry) is against that.

HOFFA: Well, we talked about that.

He (Kerry) says, look, I am against ANWR, but I am going to put that pipeline in and we‘re going to drill like never before.

(CROSSTALK)



MATTHEWS: What, are they going to run water through it (the pipeline)?

(CROSSTALK)

HOFFA: ... more jobs than the ANWR would have ever created.

MATTHEWS: What are they going to run through the pipeline?

HOFFA: And that‘s the position he‘s (Kerry) taking.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: But he (Kerry) is against drilling up (ANWR) there. What are they going to run through the pipeline?

HOFFA: Well, they are going to drill all over, according to him (Kerry). And he (Kerry)says, we‘re going to be drilling all over the United States. And he (Kerry)says that is going to create more jobs.

(CROSSTALK)

LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: You got that guy rolling.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: What position was he in when he made all these promises?

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: It just seems amazing that (Kerry) he has turned around on NAFTA, turned around on WTO, turned around on ANWR, anything to get the Teamsters.

HOFFA: Oh.

MATTHEWS: Who is going to be boss if he gets in there, you or him?

MSNBC Transcripts

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From: Senator Kerry’s web site.

SOUND DOMESTIC PRODUCTION & SUPPLY

Senator Kerry has called for a balanced energy policy including significant oil and gas production. He supports the exploration and development of vast tracks of state and federal land throughout the U.S., including in Alaska, in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.

For example, Alaska recently completed a lease sale of 950,000 acres on its North Slope and has plans to lease another 7 million acres. The Department of the Interior has plans to lease 3 million acres of federal land in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Some 32 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, which British Petroleum (BP) has called one of the most promising reserves in the world, have been leased but are not, yet, in production.

Senator Kerry also supports federal assistance in the creation of a pipeline carrying natural gas from the oil fields of Alaska’s North Slope to the lower 48 states.

From http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/issues/energy_record.html (scroll down if you link, copied 2-20-04)

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SCARBOROUGH: Awfully tough for him. But you know, we saw the debate on Sunday night.

And if, you know—John Edwards can be as optimistic as he wants, but at some point, he‘s going to have to define the differences. He‘s going to have to say, “You know what, this guy voted for the war. Now he‘s against it. This guy voted for NAFTA, now he‘s against it. This guy voted for GAT, now he‘s against it. This guy voted for the

World Trade Organization, now he‘s against it. This guy voted for No Child Left Behind, now he‘s against it.”

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Hold on a second.

SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second. An important point...

MATTHEWS: What does that say about Kerry?

SCARBOROUGH: What that says about John Kerry is he‘s gotten a free ride.

MATTHEWS: Doesn‘t say he has a character problem.

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From: MSNBC Transcripts

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