Proponents of opening the refuge to oil development easily defeated an effort to remove the drilling provision from the bill, voting down an amendment 30-13.

Even as legislation to open the refuge has passed the House several times in recent years and would likely succeed again, it's unlikely the energy bill will ultimately be a successful vehicle for Arctic drilling legislation. Anti-drilling forces in the Senate say they would filibuster such a measure to a standoff when it reached their chamber, and supporters don't appear to have the 60 votes they would need to cut off endless debate.

Instead, Republican leadership inserted a drilling provision in the Senate's budget resolution, which is not subject to a filibuster. The House-passed budget has no refuge provision. The two versions of the budget are awaiting appointment of a conference committee that will attempt to resolve their differences.

The committee vote Wednesday was symbolic in some respects, but that didn't stop Alaska Rep. Don Young and other proponents of opening the refuge from vigorously defending the merits of drilling. Soaring oil prices have added urgency to debates around Congress on energy-related matters.

Young said if Congress had opened the refuge 10 years ago, the oil would be available today. Instead, the United States is buying oil abroad. And other rapidly developing countries like China are now consuming tremendous amounts of oil and affecting worldwide prices, he said.

"We're at the mercy of those countries," Young said. "There is no shortage of oil in the world. There's a shortage of domestic supply."

But Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., criticized Republicans for not backing technology or approving new fuel standards for cars. Congress shouldn't drill there just because members won't take on the auto industry, he said.

"Not only are we not going to do anything, we're going to go and despoil something which was very special created by God that we should only go to as a last resort," Markey said. "Well, that's just wrong."

One Republican, John Peterson of Pennsylvania, acknowledged that the United States should not be so dependent on oil and the country's economic future relies on other resources like natural gas.

"We should be moving away from an oil-based society," he said. "We are now. But we've got to get there."

And any interim plan should include drilling, he said.

The drilling provision was part of an energy bill that passed Wednesday with a voice vote. The bill also would lower royalties on oil and gas leases as an incentive for more exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Other committees must still finish their portions of the energy bill, but aides for the Resources Committee said House leaders plan to bring the full bill to the floor next week.

State Rep. Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue, whose district includes the North Slope, also was at the Capitol on Wednesday along with House Minority Leader Rep. Ethan Berkowitz, D-Anchorage. Joule said he lobbied U.S. House members to open the refuge's coastal plain.

The critical action takes place in the Senate, but Joule wanted new House members to get as much information as they can on the refuge because having a strong House majority supporting drilling still is important.

"You can't be satisfied with 50 plus one," he said. "We're trying to help."

Daily News reporter Nicole Tsong can be reached at ntsong@adn.com or (202) 383-0007.