For 30 Years, a Political Battle Over Oil and ANWR [5min

In the early 1960s, large accumulations of oil were discovered in Alaska's coastal plain of what's now called the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). A decade later, that potential created the first of many stalemates over the Arctic refuge on Capitol Hill. In 1987, when Reagan was president, the Interior Department recommended that Congress allow drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic refuge, reporting that the area represented the nation's best chance to boost domestic oil production. But it also cautioned that drilling could harm wildlife, especially the caribou herds that use the area as a calving ground. That report sparked the first in a series of efforts to open the refuge. In March 1989, a Senate committee approved leasing in the coastal plain. A few years later, Iraq invaded Kuwait and set fire to oil fields. Now President Bush supports drilling, and an energy bill that includes drilling in the refuge is again part of a budget process.