Vigilance

"This is another huge defeat for President Bush and shows his waning influence on issues that matter most to him."

in referring to this headline:

House GOP makes concession on Arctic drilling
Leaders drop hotly debated ANWR drilling plan from omnibus budget bill

Why?

1. The numbers didn't add up; the estimate of 10 Bbls of oil equals a "drop in the bucket"
2. Many big oil players showed little interest
3. Distancing from poisonous BushCo associations with fear of continuing marginalization and possible backlash
4. "Including the drilling provision in the Deficit Reduction Act would undermine the protection of all public spaces by valuing the worth of the potential resources contained within these lands over their conservation value... Rather then reversing decades of protection for this publicly held land, focusing greater attention on renewable energy sources, alternate fuels, and more efficient systems and appliances would yield more net energy savings."

Yet progress remains slow, as American oil sheiks testify before the Senate:

Ted Stevens refused to have these guys swear in. As David says, "The Republicans will swear in baseball players but not oil execs."