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Bush administration: Labor behind Alaska drilling



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Newfound support from organized labor has improved the prospects for Senate approval of President George W. Bush's proposal allowing oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, his interior secretary said Sunday.

"People have been saying that ANWR is dead on arrival a number of times over the last few months, and we have seen now that the labor unions have come out very actively in support of it, that the dynamics have changed," Gail Norton said on Fox News Sunday.

Last week, the House approved Bush's energy package, including the provision allowing ANWR drilling, by a stronger-than-expected vote of 240-189. Lobbying by organized labor, normally a Democratic constituency, gave the measure a last-minute boost.

"People are beginning to realize that what we're talking about is the production of 700,000 jobs from this proposal -- that this would have impacts throughout our economy and really make a difference for working men and women," Norton said.

But the top Democrat in the Senate, Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said Sunday supporters of ANWR drilling do not have enough support to overcome an expected filibuster by Democratic opponents. And he said Bush should remove the drilling provision if he wants to get his energy plan through the Senate.

"I know the votes are there today to sustain a filibuster," he said on CBS's Face The Nation. "So I would hope we could agree to disagree, take that out so we don't jeopardize the entire energy legislation, the whole possibility of getting comprehensive energy policy passed, just because we differ on ANWR."

One of the Senate's leading critics of the drilling proposal, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, renewed his filibuster threat Sunday, calling drilling a "short-term quick fix to a long-term problem."

"Respectfully to our friends ... in the labor movement, this is a short-term answer to their desire for jobs, too," he said on ABC's This Week.

"The long-term answer is for America to invest in new technologies -- fuel cells, renewable energy -- which will create literally millions of jobs in this century.

"If there was every a reason for a filibuster ... this is it, because we're going to irreparably damage the Arctic refuge," he said.

But White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said there is a provision in the House bill that limits the amount of land that can be opened to exploration to just 2,000 acres.

"[The] refuge is about the size of South Carolina, and we're talking about drilling on an area that is smaller than most airports," Card said on CNN's Late Edition. "With new technologies that are environmentally friendly, I think it is the right thing to do."






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