Senate Should Open Arctic For Exploration Now

Washington, D.C., April 8, 2001—The issue of whether to allow oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is expected to be taken up by the U.S. Senate as members return from their spring recess, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute is expressing its support to open the refuge as an important element of our national energy policy.   

“Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s refusal so far to allow debate and a vote on urgently-needed energy legislation is disgraceful.  He should stop putting the special interests of environmental pressure groups above the nation’s interest,” said Myron Ebell, director of global warming and international environmental policy at CEI. 

“The folly of President Clinton’s veto of legislation that would have opened ANWR in 1995 is now clear.  If he had signed the bill, a major new source of energy could now be only a year away from production,” added Ebell.  “We should not listen to the same argument again that opening ANWR wouldn’t solve our current energy problems because it will take several years before the oil begins to flow.  The American people should demand that their elected leaders plan more than a few months ahead.”

Energy Experts Available for Interviews

Myron EbellDirector of Global Warming Policy[email protected] Recently featured on: The News Hour with JimLehrer (PBS), Street Sweep (CNNfn), &Morning Edition (NPR). Marlo LewisSenior Fellow In Environmental Policy[email protected] Recently featured in Oxy Fuel News, SolidWaste Report, & Hazardous Waste News. Christopher C. HornerSenior Fellow In Environmental Policy[email protected] Recently featured on: CNN Sunday Morning,The Edge with Paula Zahn (Fox News), &Talk of the Nation (NPR). Paul GeorgiaEnvironmental Policy Analyst[email protected] Recently featured on: Talk of the Nation(NPR), BBC News, & Voice of America.

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org.