Lieberman to Murkowski: Forget Drilling in ANWR

This makes me angry on two fronts:

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday that opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling might be the price of her swing vote in favor of energy and climate legislation. But The Hill reports today that Sen. Joe Lieberman -- a longtime opponent of ANWR drilling -- says ANWR drilling would be a "deal breaker" in his attempt to craft a bipartisan climate bill.

"That is just not going to happen," he told reporters in the Capitol.

Lieberman - who has long championed efforts to keep ANWR permanently off-limits to drilling - is trying to craft a compromise climate and energy plan with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

"We are looking at a lot of thing, we are bending to bring people in, but that one is a no-no," he said.

First of all, Lisa Murkowski is supposed to know better; she's well aware of the total debunking of the AGW myth, and shouldn't be offering to sign onto anyone's climate legislation, unless it's to abolish the whole program & stop this expensive and foolish expansion of the "climate centers" that the Dept. of the Interior now intends to create. (Alaska will get the first one, as I reported about 10 days ago.) It seems that it will be established on the UAA campus, here in Anchorage.

Second, who the bloody blazes is Joe Lieberman to tell us we can't drill our oil on our own land? BOTH belong to us; it's none of his business if we perforate some frozen swampland & pump some oil and/or natural gas out of one of the nation's largest deposits. The obstructionist gummint restrictions are getting awfully close to that line they shouldn't cross.