Spurred on by the Arab oil embargo and resulting fuel shortages, Congress at last decided to take legislative action. The crucial moment came on July 17, 1973, when the U.S. Senate voted on an amendment offered by Alaska’s Mike Gravel to declare that the ponderous requirements of NEPA had been met and simply to authorize the construction of the pipeline. The outcome of the vote was a 49-to-49 tie. For the first time in four years, Vice President Spiro Agnew, then only weeks away from resigning his office, cast the deciding vote in favor of the pipeline.
