Last week, the United State's Senate Budget Committee approved a provision in their budget bill that would allow for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Drilling in ANWR has been hotly debated for years, pitting those who want to protect the area against those who want the oil.
The Chair of the Budget committee, NH's Senator Judd Gregg has endorsed the move to include ANWR.
And that has many in New Hampshire's environmental community angry with the man once voted conservationist of the Year.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Rebecca Kaufman has more.
Talk to most environmental groups in the state and they readily admit that when it comes to conservation and protecting the state’s natural resources, Senator Judd Gregg’s record is solid.
Catherine Corkery is spokesperson for the New Hampshire chapter of the Sierra Club.
2:07 he’s someone we expect to care for the environment, New Hampshire expects a certain level of protection from senator gregg and we’ve seen it in our state, we know he cares about new Hampshire
But right now, the Sierra Club in New Hampshire is calling on Senator Gregg to protect a piece of land more than 5000 miles away.
The organization opposes drilling for oil in Alaska’s Artic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR.
And while the Sierra Club has been one of the more vocal organizations speaking out against the policy, they are not alone.
Ted Leach is a former Republican state representative and co-Chair of the state-wide organization, the Carbon Coalition.
He says drilling in ANWR distracts the country from what should be its real focus---investing in renewable energy.
8:10 when they see an administration hell bent on drilling for oil and using excuses like this will decrease our dependence on foreign oil and then they show a picture of osama bin laden or something to scare everybody, its bogus, there’s not even enough oil up there, its not even worth drilling
In the past, Senator Gregg has said he does not support ANWR.
But he put it in the budget because the president wants to include possible ANWR revenues to help offset deficits..
Leach says he understands the importance of being a good foot soldier but he doesn’t find Senator Gregg's argument persuasive.
3:10 I just say well you don’t have to do that senator gregg, you don’t have to do what the president asks, and that’s why we have representatives and senators to bring the local views of the constituency to the table, and the president can ask for it but that doesn’t mean we necessarily have to give it to him.
Leach says he's been writing letters and calling Gregg’s office to stress his opposition to the policy.
Nancy Girard is with the Conservation Law Foundation, an organization that also opposes drilling in ANWR.
Girard says she doubts a vote for ANWR will hurt Gregg politically
She believes the issue is too far removed to resonate enough with New Hampshire voters.
But she also says the policy is so flawed, that in the long run, voters might take closer notice of what happens down in D.C.
2:40 if this happens, if we don’t get anything out of it people will say why did we do that why did we sacrifice an area for the greed of Americans that want to guzzle gas, that could be a turning point in terms of people consideration of the votes their legislators take
Girard says the Conservation Law Foundation is not asking their members to oppose the policy.
Roger Stephenson is with the bi-partisan organization the Granite State Conservation Voters Alliance.
He says state-wide environmental groups should focus on state-wide issues, and leave the political lobbying to the citizens.
:18 I think New Hampshire citizens and voters need to ask themselves whether they must or need to become national conservation stewards just because their senator has a larger and more significant role and I think the answer is yes, because ANWR belongs to us too
In fact, some environmental organizations in the state are not taking a position on ANWR.
The New Hampshire chapter of the Nature Conservancy declined to comment.
The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is also refraining from taking a position.
Both organizations have worked closely with the state's senior senator to protect tens of thousands of acres of New Hampshire land.
And Gregg has brought New Hampshire millions of dollars in federal conservation dollars.
Charlie Niebling, executive director of the Forest Society, says he trusts Senator Gregg’s decision making.
:38 it’s pragmatic and balanced in the kind of classic new Hampshire republican to find the middle ground the illusive balance point on difficult issues but when its been time to take a stand he has done so even when it’s been at odds with his own party
And Niebling says this particular environmental issue is so tangled up in politics that it would be unfair to say Gregg’s position undermines his environmental credibility.
1:40 he has to make decisions based on many different factors he has to defend and put forward a resolution that defends what our president has proposed, decision are complex and many factors enter into how you arrive at particular position and I wouldn’t presume to understand the nuances and complexities of this one
For his part, Senator Gregg defends the policy, saying drilling in the Artic has wide ranging support from the Alaska delegation.
And Gregg argues that the issue is being overblown.
2:28 the practical matter is that ANWR does makes sense, it can be done with minimum environmental impact and it’s really become more of a poster child fundraising event for national environmental groups than a substantive issue because the size of the area, the size is very small, the drilling is environmentally sensitive
And Senator Gregg doesn’t stand alone.
Most republican senators also support ANWR, including New Hampshire’s other senator John Sununu.
:32 2000 acres is an amount of land about equal to the size of the Manchester airport, if we can’t set aside 2000 acres in order to set aside the biggest oil find in the last 40 years, I don’t think we’re really committed to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
Environmenatlists dispute Senator Sununu's numbers.
They say at most ANWR will produce only about 6 months of oil.
And as for the 2000 acres, that's about the amount of land taken up by the New Jersey Turnpike, or more than 1500 football fields.
Sununu says he supports the legislation because, as written, some of the revenue from ANWR would go into a conservation fund that would help protect land in other states.
Asked if he would vote for ANWR if it were in New Hampshire, Judd Gregg refused to speculate.
3:54 ANWR’s not in New Hampshire (laughs), so it’s sort of irrelevant, a hypothetical
The Senate is scheduled to vote on ANWR this week.
The House has already rejected drilling in the reserve in its version of the budget.
So if it passes the Senate, the provision would have to be hashed out in a conference committee.
For NHPR news, I’m RK.
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