| LAWMAKERS SEND ANWR DRILLING MEASURE TO TRUMP: The House voted Wednesday to pass the GOP's tax overhaul bill, complete with a provision to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling. The House's 224-201 vote, mostly along party lines, capped of more than four decades of congressional debate on whether to drill in the remote northeastern Alaska area. Once President Trump signs the legislation, Alaska leaders, Republicans and the oil industry will have accomplished a goal at the top of their energy priorities. "After decades and decades in this chamber, we are opening up a small non-wilderness area of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge for responsible development. That is the most ambitious step we have taken in years to secure our own energy future," House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said before the vote. Trump brought Republican lawmakers to the White House for a celebratory ceremony, and let ANWR drilling proponents speak. "Now it doesn't feel like it right now, but the Winter Solstice is the shortest day -- the darkest day," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of the Senate's most outspoken drilling supporters. "And for us, in Alaska, we've had some pretty dark days recently. But with passage of this tax bill, with passage finally, almost 40 years later, to allow us to open up the 1002 area -- this is a bright day for Alaska. This is bright day for America," she said. The ANWR legislation also marks a major defeat for environmentalists, who had fought off numerous attempts since the 1970s to allow drilling there. ANWR drilling has long fueled greens, helping to organize some of the first environmentalists in the movement. While ANWR was largely overshadowed through the congressional debate by the larger tax overhaul -- the most significant change to the tax code since the 1980s -- it was of central importance to the lawmakers who care the most about it. Democrats and environmentalists struggled throughout the ANWR debate to rile up opposition to drilling, with their base often focused on the larger tax bill or other GOP or Trump policies. But they still put up a significant fight. "Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is nothing more than a Big Oil polar payout," said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a leading lawmaker opposing pro-fossil fuel policies. "This isn't about drilling for oil; it is about drilling for votes. This isn't about crude oil; it is the crudest of politics," he said. Read more here. JUDGE DECLARES MISTRIAL IN BUNDY CASE: The judge overseeing the trial of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and other defendants from the 2014 Bunkerville standoff declared a mistrial Wednesday. Judge Gloria Navarro said that the federal government improperly withheld key evidence from the defense, in violation of the defendants' constitutional right to due process, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported. The withholding "undermined the confidence of the outcome of the trial," Navarro said. Navarro's declaration does not necessarily mean the evidence would have helped prove the defendants' innocence, but it likely would have changed how attorneys questioned witnesses. "The defense has a right to information so it can provide it to the jury so the jury can decide," she said. Bundy's supporters took the mistrial as a major victory for their longstanding argument that the government has it out for him. But Navarro quickly scheduled a new trial, which will begin Feb. 15. Read more here. TRUMP SEEKS MINERAL STRATEGY: Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to develop a national strategy to boost domestic production of critical minerals and reduce dependence on foreign imports of them. The order directed toward Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke came a day after Zinke released an in-depth report concluding that the United States dependents entirely or almost entirely on foreign imports for many important non-fuel minerals like titanium, fluorine, cobalt and manganese. Some of the minerals are essential to national security needs or common commercial products. Trump's order could lead to new policies to streamline or reduce barriers to mining projects for the minerals. "This executive order will prioritize reducing the Nation's vulnerability to disruptions in our supply of critical minerals safely and responsibility for the benefit of the American people," Trump said in a statement. Read more here. AROUND THE WEB: Steel giant ArcelorMittal agreed to pay a $1.5 penalty to state and federal regulators over air pollution violations, StateImpact Pennsylvania reports. Wyoming has lost more than 6,500 residents since the start of the energy bust, more than any time since 1989, the Casper Star Tribune reports. The company that planned to operate an LED lightbulb factory in upstate New York is walking away, after the state spent $90 million to build the facility, Syracuse.com reports. Stephen Ezell and David M. Hart of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) make the case for a Department of Energy Foundation to boosT energy research and development, in an op-ed for The Hill. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Wednesday's stories ... - Trump calls for strategy to boost domestic mineral production - Poll: National park fee hikes likely to reduce visits - Judge declares mistrial in Nevada Bundy case - Congress votes to open Alaska refuge to oil drilling - Court asks EPA when it will move forward with smog rule compliance - France to ban oil and gas production by 2040 | 
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