In a major defeat for President Bush and a hard-won triumph for environmentalists, the Senate this morning effectively killed a proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling advocates fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to end a Democratic filibuster and force passage of the bill. All but five Democrats voted against oil drilling, while all but eight Republicans voted in favor. The defeat was especially crushing for Alaska Republican Sens. Ted Stevens and Frank Murkowski, both of whom had battled hard for its passage, including offering eleventh-hour deal-sweeteners aimed at undecided senators. The fate of a House-approved energy bill, which includes a measure to allow drilling in the refuge, is now uncertain, as the Senate seems unlikely to compromise on the issue.
