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ANWR Sun Tan Oil Showdown

WASHINGTON DC -- Republican Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate to fund and develop hotel, resort and recreational facilities in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. A unique provision of the bill would require all federal lawmakers to spend a two-week vacation above the Arctic Circle every year during their term in office.

"If the liberal tree huggers are really in love with the place as much as they say, then they should spend some quality time there," remarked Stevens on the Senate floor. "Let them get their tans in the land of the midnight sun."

Stevens has been repeatedly frustrated in attempts to pass legislation opening ANWR to oil exploration and drilling. Currently 25% of U.S. domestic oil production comes from Alaska's northern slope and ANWR reserves are said to hold between 5 and 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Scientists and environmentalists insist on preserving ANWR from the ravages of the oil industry, expressing concern for snow geese displacement, the constriction of caribou calving areas, and musk ox hunkering disturbances.

The resort would be located in the tiny village of Kaktovik, which has a total population 293 based on the 2000 Census. In May of 2006, the village passed a resolution calling Shell Oil Company a "hostile and dangerous force."

"Hostile and dangerous force? They ain't seen nothing yet," said Stevens. "Just wait till they get up close and personal with my colleagues."

Democrats have vowed to filibuster the bill.

















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