Congress got closer to drilling in the "crown jewel" Arctic refuge with legislation that just cleared the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

ongress took a step closer to opening a portion of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling Wednesday when a Senate committee passed legislation that will be folded into the GOP tax bill.

Democrats and environmentalists have attacked the push to open the Arctic refuge to drilling as near-sighted and damaging to the fragile environment. But Republicans and Alaskan politicians have been pushing hard to open up the area to drilling and use the income to bolster their tax-reform efforts.

Republicans now plan to fold Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski’s drilling legislation into their tax bill, which is currently in the works. Republicans plan to pass the tax bill using methods that will shield the bill from a filibuster by Democrats. By following that method, the legislation to drill in ANWR would move forward, too.

President Donald Trump has told Congress he wants a tax deal on his desk by Thanksgiving. Christmas seems more likely, however.

Over the years Congress has voted nearly 50 times to open ANWR. Efforts have always fallen short. The latest effort, however, may represent one of the greatest challenges to the refuge to date—or opportunities, depending on how one feels about drilling in what advocates call “the crown jewel in our national wildlife refuge system.”