Listen each weekday to ABC's "Road to the White House" - Listen Now!

Ralph Hall offers bill to deed ANWR coastal plain to State of Alaska.

By Paul Gleiser | July 23, 2008 | Print This | Email This

Gasoline prices have become close to the top issue in the presidential campaign. Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX/4) introduced a bill today in the House of Representatives that would deed the Alaska Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to the State of Alaska. This Coastal Plain is the area within ANWR believed to hold approximately 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The Coastal Plain is a small part of the 19 million acres that currently comprise ANWR. The balance of ANWR aside from the Coastal Plain would remain as federal land.

The bill would require the state to share with the federal government 50 percent of the tax and royalty income arising from oil and gas production in Coastal Plain.

In announcing the bill, Hall said:

“This bill is totally different from the multiple attempts to drill on ANWR over the past 15 years. I offer something different. I offer something that should appeal to anyone who believes in States’ Rights. This bill came to mind last week – when I said to myself – if we can’t drill in ANWR, let’s give it back to those who can and will.”

Read the press release from Ralph Hall’s office here.

Topics: Energy | No Comments »

Equal time in the NYT for McCain? Not yet.

By Paul Gleiser | July 23, 2008 | Print This | Email This

The New York Times has spiked an editorial submission from Republican presidential candidate John McCain that responds to an op-ed piece written by his opponent Barack Obama. The Obama piece ran Mon., July 14. You can read it here.

McCain’s submission to the Times was rejected by op-ed editor David Shipley, who served in the Clinton administration from 1995 to 1997. Shipley said that in order for the Times to publish the piece, it would need to be re-written to include a definition by McCain for victory in Iraq and include a timetable for victory and eventual removal of U.S. forces from the country.

The McCain campaign objects to the demand, saying that bowing to the paper’s demand is essentially re-writing the piece on Obama’s terms.

Investors Business Daily has an editorial on this subject here.

Topics: Barak Obama, Media, New York Times | No Comments »