Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was rejected last year on a bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate. The action reflected public sentiment that one of this nation's pristine natural areas should not be despoiled for the sake of perhaps a six-month supply of petroleum.
Now Senate Republicans have hatched a scheme to force the oil industry's ANWR drilling plan through Congress in the spring by attaching it to a budget reconciliation measure that can't be stalled by filibuster.
Thoughtful lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, should not be a party to this ploy, which is merely a sneaky substitute for open debate on an important question.
A recent poll by CBS News and The New York Times found that the public remains opposed to ANWR drilling, 55 percent to 39 percent. Moreover, despite extravagant claims by industry and some unions, government surveys indicate that only about six months' worth of oil might be economically recoverable from ANWR, and then only after about 10 years.
Those facts have never seemed to matter much to those who share a simplistic belief that arctic drilling will substantially reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
ANWR drilling was approved by the House, but eight Republicans opposed it in the Senate last April. The plan now is to graft it to a budget reconciliation bill which, under Senate rules, may not be filibustered and requires only a simple majority to pass.
Such a maneuver also would give cover to GOP members who might want to switch their votes under the guise of advancing crucial budget legislation.
We understand that the political process sometimes moves ahead in furtive -- and distasteful -- ways, but important policy questions shouldn't be railroaded in budget bills by parliamentary sleight of hand.
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