Bush Budget Includes $2.4 Billion In ANWR Lease Sales

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON--President George Bush's budget projections for fiscal year 2006 count on $2.4 billion from oil lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain. Such drilling on the coastal plain would require congressional approval, which the Senate has repeatedly thwarted in recent years.

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, at a budget briefing Monday, said the administration nevertheless believes it is appropriate to count on ANWR's oil leasing revenue in fiscal year 2006. "Whatever happens in Congress, that will continue to be a focus," Norton said.

The Interior Department's budget, released Monday, outlines spending plans for fiscal year 2005, which begins Oct. 1. But Bush's overall budget plan also includes government income projections several years into the future, which is where the ANWR leasing revenue is found.

EDIT

Unlike past years, the Interior Department's budget proposal doesn't request any money specifically to develop leases in ANWR, which covers the eastern end of Alaska's North Slope, or the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which covers the western half."

EDIT

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~1932466,00.html

[RobertSeattle]

1. What a crock - what next

Revenues from the Tooth Fairy?

[lovedems]

2. There sure are alot of variables in this budget.

I particulary find it interesting all of the items that were left out. Iraq war costs being the biggie.

This administration is such a joke.