It was a gutsy vote, to be sure, but it wasn’t enough.

Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins stood against shallow energy planning, bad budgeting and an assault on the environment. Unfortunately, they and their allies in the Senate who tried to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge fell two votes short Wednesday.

By a tally of 49-51, an attempt to stop the exploitation of this pristine wilderness area failed.

“Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not a long-term, responsible energy strategy – ANWR’s value lies in its wilderness and natural beauty, not its finite supply of oil. We cannot drill our way out of our current energy problems, and this debate only distracts us from addressing our energy needs in a realistic and comprehensive way,” Snowe said in a prepared statement.

The fight to save ANWR isn’t over. But last week’s actions will make it much more difficult to stave off attempts to pillage the refuge. President Bush has earned one more feather for his anti-environment cap.