Bush Drops Drilling Plan for Arctic Wilderness

The Bush administration's sinking popularity and the Republican party's declining electoral fortunes have brought at least a temporary reprieve for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The party leadership in the House of Representatives has had to drop clauses permitting oil drilling in the refuge and in coastal areas from a spending bill, in order to win the support of moderate Republicans nervous about their electoral prospects in the shifting political landscape.

The Senate version of the bill still contains the drilling clauses, but environmentalists declared it a victory.