[JURIST] In Wednesday's environmental law news, the US House of Representatives [official website] voted late Wednesday night to remove provisions from a budget bill that would have allowed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [official website] and offshore drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Twenty-five House Republicans had threatened to join Democrats to scuttle the budget bill if the drilling provisions were included, a move that effectively eliminated the 14-person House Republican voting majority. The vote is disheartening to proponents of the drilling, particularly since the provisions were included in the budget bill that passed through the Senate [JURIST report] last week. A vote on the House version of the budget bill is expected Thursday. AP has more.