House panel votes to stop oil drilling in Arctic refuge

A House panel approved a bill Wednesday that would block drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), advancing a key Democratic priority.

The bill approved by Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee repeals a controversial provision included in President Trump’s 2017 tax law.

The provision opened up the sought-after Alaskan land to oil and gas drilling, prompting backlash from environmentalists who have long used protecting the area as a rallying cry.

Republicans have hailed the passage of drilling in ANWR, saying it will significantly bolster economic prosperity and boost the nation’s energy independence. 

“In the face of climate change, let’s not mess up one of the few good things that are still going.”

The bill may now proceed to the House floor for a vote, though it is unclear if such a vote might take place.

If passed, the bill would face significant hurdles in the Republican-lead Senate, which committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said snuck drilling provisions into the tax bill.

“We have to provide the American people with a choice, a bet to save ANWR. I don’t know how [Republicans] are going to defend it. They did it in the middle of the night; they stuck it to a bill it didn’t belong in. No hearings, nothing,” Grijalva said. “They did it in a very sneaky way, underhanded way, so what we did today was out in the open, we had a good debate about it.”

Republicans have strongly pushed back on accusations they snuck the ANWR language in the tax measure. 

Huffman’s bill would revert the refuge to the protected status it had prior to 2017.

“It doesn’t roll back oil and gas development elsewhere in the state, it doesn’t shut down activities in the neighboring National Petroleum Reserve, it does nothing to go after the existing jobs in oil and gas,” Huffman emphasized. “It simply says you can’t expand into this one special place.”