"Jim Nussle has said that a clean budget is one of his top priorities, and he has proven that today by keeping dicey policy language that has no budgetary consequence, namely drilling in the Arctic refuge, out of the budget," stated Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

The budget process last year was marred by the inclusion of highly controversial legislation that would have opened the Arctic refuge to oil and gas drilling. Rep. Nussle included reconciliation instructions to the House Resources and Senate Energy committees, requiring them to produce budget savings of $2.4 billion, which was the exact amount projected in the President’s budget for the sale of tracts of the Arctic refuge’s coastal plain.

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) and Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) wasted no time taking advantage of this loophole and tried to use it to circumvent the normal public discussion and legislative checks and balances. A scheme like this is the only way drilling proponents see to finally open the refuge since they lack the support from the American public to introduce it as a stand-alone bill.

As the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Nussle has the ultimate say as to what is included in the final version of the House budget.

"His federal budget plan for this year reflects the views of the American people much more clearly than last year in that he has left out any language that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling," continued Schlickeisen. "Rep. Nussle has learned from last year’s embarrassing and time-consuming budget reconciliation process and the Arctic battle that ensued. I hope that his "drill-it-all" colleagues in Congress will also recognize that drilling in the refuge is a sad, old idea that will do nothing to break our country’s addiction to foreign oil."

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, introduced a Senate budget bill that did include the drilling provision. The differences between the bills will have to be reconciled in a conference report. Conferencing is a potential brick wall standing in the way of the Senate’s attempts to use the budget as a vehicle to open the Arctic refuge to oil drilling. The House has already made its position clear on this controversial issue by blocking its inclusion in the budget last year, and by refusing to include oil drilling provisions this year.

"Rep. Nussle was wise to keep this hornet’s nest out of the budget and point our government down a more productive path," declared Schlickeisen. "I’m disappointed in the actions of the Senate, though. That body has just openly declared war on the budget process, the Arctic refuge, and the hundreds of thousands of polar bears, caribou and musk oxen, and millions of migratory birds that call this safe haven home. The House of Representatives and the American people were on the refuge’s side last year, and they will stand stronger this year to make sure once again that no drill enters their refuge."