Much applause is due to the Senators who fended off a sneak-attack [1] effort yesterday at the eleventh hour – just before Congress adjourned for the holidays – to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [2] (a.k.a. ANWR) to drilling. The ANWR amendement was attached to a widely supported military spending bill allocating funds for U.S. troops abroad and victims of the brutal hurricane season—a bill that clearly had little to do with either energy or the environment.

Congress members were forced – many say unfairly so—to choose between boosting defense spending and exploiting one of the last untouched wilderness areas in the nation. Republican support for the ANWR measure was strong, but Democrats chose to block the measure with a filibuster [3]. “Our military is being held hostage by this issue, Arctic drilling,” seethed Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic leader. The White House [3] vows to continue pushing to open up ANWR next year – meaning the thirty-year battle over one of the most controversial environmental issues in American history doesn’t end here.

Photo credit: arctic.fws.gov [4]