Proposals to drill in ANWR have been blocked in the Senate for years due to concerns over damage to native populations of caribou, polar bears and other native wildlife. Senate Republican leaders are now attempting to circumvent the filibustering of ANWR drilling proposals by attaching legislative language to the Senate Budget Committee’s draft budget bill.

Democrats said they will offer an amendment to strip the language from the bill, but, if unsuccessful, ANWR drilling may become a reality in the near-future. Republican efforts to push the bill through have the strong support of president George W Bush, who urged Congress to open ANWR to drilling in a speech in Ohio.

“Developing a small section of ANWR would not only create thousands of new jobs but it would eventually reduce our dependence on foreign oil by up to a million barrels a day. Congress needs to look at the science and look at the facts and send me a bill that includes exploration in ANWR for the sake of our country,” he said.

The proposal would open 6000 hectares of northern Alaska for exploration, with only 810 hectares under development at any one time. The ANWR covers 7.7 million hectares.

Canadian government officials in Ottawa vowed to oppose any moves to drill in the area, claiming it would harm the calving grounds of the porcupine caribou. Ottawa said both nations should provide protection for the wildlife in ANWR and has banned any development in areas used by the porcupine caribou.

“We think it’s a big mistake, and we will continue to pressure Washington so that it should not happen. We must be sure the caribou are protected. It’s a very frail ecosystem there. I’ll meet my [US] counterpart pretty soon and will continue to look at that very carefully,” said Canadian environment minister Stephane Dion.

Canada is also concerned about US plans to divert water from Devil’s Lake in North Dakota into the Red River running north into Canadian Manitoba. Ottawa believes the water may be polluted and cause harm to Canada’s Lake Winnipeg. Dion said he would raise the issue when he visited Washington.

“Devil’s Lake … is something I want to put a lot of pressure on to be sure it will not happen. The project is almost 80% completed and it’s threatening the ecosystem of the tenth largest fresh water lake on earth and a key one for Manitoba and the whole of Canada,” Dion said.