Bush Response To Kyoto Ratification: Drill In ANWR

(ENS) WASHINGTON -- While the Bush administration does not lend its support to the UN Kyoto climate protocol, it will remain "actively engaged" in moving towards a solution to global climate change, said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan Friday in the first Bush administration comment on the treaty since Russia's ratification became final on November 5.

"I think the United States has been leading the way when it comes to advancing the science of climate change and we will continue to do that," McClellan told reporters at the daily White House press briefing.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law ratifying the international treaty that limits the emission of greenhouse gases by industrialized countries, he triggered its entry into force 90 days after Russia's instrument of ratification is received at United Nations headquarters in New York.

While the United States does not support the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, McClellan said, it is searching for other solutions to address the issue of climate change.

"There are ways that we can work together to address climate change and the United States will continue to remain actively engaged in that," he said. "The President put forward some very bold initiatives that will help us address climate change, from the hydrogen car to clean-burning coal plants."

The Bush administration has pledged a $1.2 billion commitment in research funding to bring hydrogen and fuel cell technology from the laboratory to the showroom. In April, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced $350 million in nationwide funding for science and research projects to establish a hydrogen economy.

On Wednesday, Abraham joined representatives of Shell and General Motors in the opening the nation's first integrated gasoline and hydrogen refueling station in Washington, DC.

The hydrogen station is the centerpiece of a joint Energy Department demonstration project with General Motors. The site will be used to refuel General Motors' fuel cell vehicles in the Department of Energy Vehicle and Infrastructure Learning Demonstration and Validation Project. It is the first station in a potential Washington, DC to New York hydrogen corridor.

At the same time, the Bush administration "hopes" that Congress will act to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for "environmentally-responsible exploration and production," McClellan told reporters Thursday.

Abraham said last week he is optimistic the new Congress would vote next year to allow oil drilling in the wildlife refuge.

Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, who chairs the Senate's Energy Committee, said he will have enough votes next year to add funding to start ANWR oil and gas drilling to the federal government's annual budget bill.

"With oil hovering at $50 a barrel, and likely to stay there for several months, the market mandates congressional action. We can develop ANWR without harming the environment or the wildlife. Now is the time to do that," Domenici said in a statement November 10.

After the November 2 election, the balance in the Senate is 55 Republicans to 45 Democrats. But not all Republicans support drilling in the refuge, and not all Democrats oppose it.

The issue of ANWR drilling is a call to battle for environmental groups. The Sierra Club said Friday that, "Protecting the Refuge is and has been a priority for Republicans and Democrats alike. This bipartisan coalition will work together to protect the Arctic Refuge in the upcoming Congress, backed by millions of Americans who understand that drilling there is wrong. We are battle-tested and ready to fight."

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, oil under the Arctic Coastal Plain is spread across the entire 1.5 million acres in many small deposits.

McClellan said ANWR drilling is "an important part of an overall comprehensive energy plan that the President outlined very early on in this administration. And it will help address some of these recurring problems we see every year with high gas prices and our dependence on foreign sources of energy."

The Sierra Club says protecting the Arctic Refuge is "important ecologically and culturally."

"The narrow Coastal Plain is the foundation of a delicate ecosystem that features a spectacular diversity of wildlife, including hundreds of bird species, polar bears, musk oxen and wolves. The area also supports the Porcupine caribou herd, which calves on the Coastal Plain. The caribou are the basis of the subsistence and culture of the Gwich'in people, whose communities lie along the migration route of the herd."

The USGS estimates that the amount of oil likely to be recovered from the Arctic Refuge would be no more than 0.3 percent of the world's reserves, and would do nothing to help secure the nation's energy independence. The United States imports oil from over 60 nations, including Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.