US Senate rejects Alaskan oil plan

By Steve Kingston BBC correspondent in Washington

Plans by President George W Bush to allow drilling for oil in parts of Alaska have been rejected by the US Senate.

Mr Bush introduced the idea as a means of making America more self-sufficient in its energy production, but opponents of the plan said it would endanger wildlife in the region.

The ANWR will not be subject to drilling

The senate's decision is a setback for the president's highly publicised national energy plan.

Line by line, senators were discussing a broader energy bill.

When it came to the section on drilling in Alaska, Republicans who favoured the plan were unable to force a vote.

That for now kills off the most controversial aspect of the president's energy strategy.

He had wanted to permit drilling across 2,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Situated on the north-east coast of Alaska, the site is home to polar bears, caribou and other Arctic creatures.

Environmentalists argued that the arrival of oil companies with heavy equipment and machinery would threaten the existence of such animals.

'Missed opportunity'

Reacting to the senate's decision, the president's spokesman said America had missed an opportunity to be more independent in its energy production.

The administration had argued for the plan on the grounds of national security, saying that Alaskan oil would make the US less reliant on imports from hostile countries like Iraq.

Republican senators may yet look for other ways of introducing the plan into a final bill - perhaps by encouraging native American communities in Alaska to allow drilling on their land outside the wildlife refuge.

But overturning this defeat will not be easy.