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SELECTED ENERGY VOTES 2003 to Present – Republican vs. Democrat Breakdown
June 17, 2008

Posted By Marc Morano – 1:10 PM EST – Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov   

ANWR Votes

10/27/95 – The Senate voted on a bill to implement a competitive leasing program for oil and gas exploration, development and production within the coastal plain of ANWR.  The bill passed 52-47.  Of that, 52 Republicans voted for and 46 Democrats voted against.    

11/17/95 – The Senate voted on a motion to adopt a conference report on a bill to implement a competitive leasing program for oil and gas exploration, development and production within the coastal plain of ANWR.  The motion passed 52-47.  Of that, 52 Republicans voted for and 46 Democrats voted against. 

12/6/95 – President Clinton vetoed the Balanced Budget Act which included a provision to open ANWR. 

4/6/00 – The Senate voted on a motion to table an amendment to the budget resolution to remove funding from the 2001 Budget Resolution to expand exploration in ANWR. The tabling motion passed 51-49. Of that, 43 Republicans voted to table and 41 Democrats voted against tabling. 

4/18/02 – The Senate voted on a cloture motion on an amendment to expand exploration in ANWR. The cloture motion failed 46-54. Of that, 41 Republicans voted for and 46 Democrats voted against. 

3/19/03 – The Senate voted on an amendment to prevent consideration of drilling in ANWR during a fast-track budget reconciliation.  The amendment passed 52-48.  Of that, 42 Republicans voted against and 43 Democrats voted for.  

3/16/05 – The Senate voted on an amendment to strike language to expand exploration in ANWR.  The amendment failed 49-51.  Of that, 48 Republicans voted against and 41 Democrats voted for.  

11/3/05 – The Senate voted on an amendment to strike language establishing an oil and gas leasing program for ANWR.  The amendment failed 48-51.  Of that, 48 Republicans voted against and 41 Democrats voted for.  

3/16/06 - The Senate voted on an amendment to increase energy spending by drilling in ANWR. The amendment passed 51-49. Of that, 48 Republicans voted for and 41 Democrats voted against. 

Offshore & Other Energy Votes

2008

3/13/08 – The Senate voted on a motion to create a point of order against bills that would raise gasoline prices.  The motion failed 39-59.  Of that, 37 Republicans voted for and 59 voted against.  

3/13/08 – The Senate voted on an amendment to encourage development of oil and gas resources beneath the Outer Continental Shelf and the development of oil shale resources on public lands.  The amendment failed 47-51.  Of that, 43 Republicans voted for and 44 Democrats voted against.  

5/13/08 – The Senate voted on an amendment to allow states to authorize drilling in offshore coastal waters currently subject to a federal moratorium.  The amendment was rejected 42-56.  Of that, 41 Republicans voted for and 48 Democrats voted against.   

5/15/08 – The Senate voted on a motion to fund increased energy exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf should the average price of regular gas in the U.S. reach $5 per gallon.   The motion was rejected 44-51.  Of that, 41 Republicans voted for and 44 Democrats voted against. 

2007

6/13/07 – The Senate voted on the GAS PRICE ACT, as an amendment, to encourage increased domestic refinery capacity.  The amendment failed 43-52.  Of that, 43 Republicans voted for and 52 Democrats voted against.   

6/14/07 – The Senate voted on an amendment to drill for oil off the Virginia coast.  The amendment failed 43-44.  Of that, 37 Republicans voted for and 37 Democrats voted against.  

6/19/07 – The Senate voted on an amendment to increase the production of coal-to-liquid fuel.  The amendment failed 39-55.  Of that, 39 Republicans voted for and 47 Democrats voted against.  

6/19/07 – The Senate voted on an amendment to provide for the expansion of liquefied natural gas terminals.  The amendment failed 37-56.  Of that, 37 Republicans voted for and 56 Democrats voted against.  

6/20/07 – The Senate voted on a motion to create a point of order against bills that would raise gasoline prices.  The motion failed 37-55.  Of that, 36 Republicans voted for and 44 Democrats voted against.  

6/21/07 – The Senate voted on a motion to delay energy tax increases until the Energy secretary can certify that they would not cause increases in the price of gasoline.  The motion failed 38-55.  Of that, 37 Republicans voted for and 46 Democrat voted against.  

12/7/07 – The Senate voted on a cloture motion to consider the Housed-passed comprehensive energy bill containing $21 billion in tax increases - including $13.5 billion on oil and gas firms.  The motion failed 53-42.  Of that 39 Republicans voted against and 47 Democrats voted for.

2006

8/1/06 – The Senate voted on a bill that would open more than 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing.  The bill passed 71-25.  24 Democrats and 1 Republican opposed the measure. 

2005

11/17/05 – The Senate voted on a motion to impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil and to use the proceeds to provide taxpayers with a $100 tax credit for every person in a their household.  The motion failed 33-65.  Of that, 54 Republicans voted against and 33 Democrats voted for.  

11/17/05 – The Senate voted on a motion to impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil and to use the proceeds to fund LIHEAP.  The motion failed 50-48.  Of that, 45 Republicans voted against and 41 Democrats voted for. 

11/17/05 – The Senate voted on a motion to impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil  sold above $40 per barrel and to use the proceeds to provide tax rebates to consumers.  The motion failed 35-64.  Of that, 55 Republicans voted against and 35 Democrats voted for.  

11/17/05 – The Senate voted on a motion to prohibit expensing of intangible drilling costs for integrated oil companies – raising taxes by $2.4 billion.  The motion failed 48-51.  Of that, 48 Republicans voted against and 36 Democrats voted for. 

 2004

4/29/04 – The Senate voted on a motion to invoke cloture on an amendment to increase domestic oil production.  The motion to invoke cloture failed 55-43.  Of that, 39 Republicans voted for and 31 Democrats voted against. 

2003

6/12/03 – The Senate voted on an amendment to prevent off shore drilling.  The amendment failed 45-53.  Of that, 41 Republicans voted against and 36 Democrats voted for.

                                                       Recent Polling Data

Recent polling data from Gallup show the percentage of voters blaming oil companies for skyrocketing gasoline prices has dropped from 34 percent to 20 percent over the past year. At the same time, support for more drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas has increased to 57 percent from 41 percent.  

Another recent poll from the Polling Company, Inc. found that 81 percent of Americans support greater use of domestic energy resources.  By a margin of more than four-to-one, Americans surveyed supported the US tapping into its “own domestic energy reserves, including the oil and coal it already has here in the United States” in order to “combat the rising cost of energy and reduce dependence on foreign energy sources” (81%-16%). 

Consumer First Energy Act vs. American Energy Production Act 

The Democrats' Consumer First Energy Act does nothing to increase access to America’s extensive oil and natural gas reserves, does nothing for the promotion of nuclear energy, does nothing to increase refinery capacity, does nothing for electricity generation or transmission, and does nothing for the utilization of clean coal.  Instead, the Consumer First Energy Act increases taxes by $17 billion on America’s oil and gas producers and increases government bureaucracy. 

The Republicans' American Energy Production Act will produce up to 24 billion barrels of oil.  And that doesn’t include billions more barrels of potential fuel from oil shale and coal-to-liquids in the bill.  It would open exploration and production activities currently prohibited in the Pacific and Atlantic regions of the Outer Continental Shelf which hold an estimated 14 billion barrels of oil and 55 trillion cubic feet of gas.  This is equivalent to more than 25 years worth of imports from Saudi Arabia.  Looking to Alaska, the bill allows limited and responsible access to ANWR which is estimated to contain 10 billion barrels of oil – about 15 years worth of imports from Saudi Arabia.   

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