(recasts, adds comments from U.S. lawmakers)
By Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Thursday began hammering out compromise legislation to overhaul American energy policy for the first time in a decade, with Democrats warning that opening an Alaskan refuge to drilling would kill a final deal.
Clashes are expected over the Republican-led House of Representatives' desire to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and to distribute some $33 billion in energy tax credits.
The Democratic-controlled Senate's version of an energy bill would keep the refuge off limits to drilling, triple the use of ethanol-blended gasoline and spend $14 billion on energy tax breaks.
Democrats John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who are negotiators on the 61-member conference committee, said the Senate would reject energy legislation that gave oil firms access to the refuge.
"Let me make this as clear as I can: Any proposal to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be dead on arrival in the Senate," Lieberman said.
The Alaskan refuge, which stretches over 19 million acres