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Despite Senate Vote, House To Push for Arctic Drilling
Despite the U.S. Senate's 52-48 bipartisan rejection of an Arctic Refuge oil drilling on March 19, the U.S. House of Representatives continues to push its drilling plans through every available vehicle. The latest attack comes in the House energy bill, which the House Resources Committee will begin debating starting Wednesday, April 2. Because of the accelerated timetable for this legislation, we urgently need you to call your member of Congress NOW! You can reach your representative through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. If you cannot call, please send the letter below.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Do not include Arctic drilling in energy legislation
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am very concerned about the attempt to include a proposal to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the energy legislation now under consideration in the House. A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate last spring soundly defeated a provision to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And the Senate defeated Arctic drilling again less than two weeks ago. Those votes reflected the will of the solid majority of the American public that strongly supports protecting the Arctic Refuge. The House should stay the course and reject attempts to drill the Arctic now.
We need an energy policy that protects our wild places and invests more in cleaner, safer, renewable sources of energy. Drilling in the Arctic will ruin one of our last great wild places. But it will do nothing to increase national security or reduce our dependence on imported oil. The U.S. Geological Survey concedes that the Refuge likely holds less oil than the U.S. uses in six months and it wouldn't reach consumers for 10 years or more. Moreover, The Energy Information Administration has concluded that drilling in the Refuge would only reduce America's dependence on imported oil from a projected 62% of our total supply in 2020 to 60% at peak production.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has long been recognized as a place too special to sacrifice for short-term gain. For more than thirty years the oil industry has tried to open it to development. Thankfully, Senators throughout the past three decades have refused to yield to the industry's arguments, despite international wars, rising gas prices and budget deficits. I look to you to for such far-sighted leadership. I urge you to support the amendment to strike Arctic Refuge oil drilling from the Energy Bill.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
April 01, 2003
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The latest attack against the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge comes in the House energy bill, which the House Resources Committee will begin debating starting Wednesday, April 2. The measure will probably come to the House floor sometime next week. Among its many damaging provisions, the bill would open the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.
Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and others will offer an amendment on the floor next week to strike the Arctic Refuge provision. We can't be sure which day the vote will come, but House leaders have vowed to pass an energy bill before they leave for their spring recess April 11.
Two years ago, the House narrowly approved an energy bill that would have opened the refuge to drilling. We expect the vote to be very close this time as well, and we can't afford to take even a single vote for granted. Drilling proponents are applying heavy pressure on swing members. Conservationists are pushing back just as hard.
Because of the accelerated timetable for this legislation, we urgently need you to call your member of Congress NOW! You can reach your representative through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Please make your call today! We've listed talking points below.
It will help us in this immensely in this effort if you will let us know by email (action@tws.org) what you hear when you phone your Representative.
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BACKGROUND
Despite the Senate's bipartisan 52-48 vote to strip Arctic drilling out of the federal budget for 2004, drilling proponents continue to press to open the Arctic Refuge through other bills. The latest threat comes in the energy bills being considered in both houses right now. The House's version would open the Refuge to oil and gas leasing.
Make no mistake: this bill poses a grave threat to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senate is marking up its own version of the bill next week. In its current form, the Senate bill does *not* contain Arctic drilling language, if the House passes Arctic drilling, then a House-Senate conference convened to reconcile differences in the two measures could decide to include drilling in the final bill.
INCOMPARABLE HABITAT AND WILDERNESS
The rolling tundra of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain with the snow-capped Brooks Range in the background is a breathtaking sight. The Refuge is prized the world over for its wildness, beauty, and the incomparable habitat it provides to arctic wildlife, including wolves, grizzlies, caribou and millions of migrating birds. It is also the subject of an intense lobbying campaign by the oil industry.
Oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic will ruin one of our last great wild places, all for what the U.S. Geological Survey concedes is less oil than the U.S. uses in six months, and which wouldn't get here for 10 years or more. Moreover, the Energy Information Administration has concluded that drilling in the Refuge would only reduce American dependence on oil imports from a projected 62% of our total oil supply in 2020 to 60% at peak production.
The energy bill the House is now considering is very similar to HR 4, the ill-conceived legislation that passed the House in August 2001. In addition to Arctic drilling, the bill would extend massive subsidies to the fossil fuels industries. Other provisions seek to "expedite" the development of energy projects on federal lands, almost certainly at the expense of environmental values.
In fact, throughout the bill, existing laws and policies designed to protect environmental values are labeled as "impediments" and "restrictions" on energy development. Sacrificing our environment in order to make it easier for energy companies to exploit publicly owned resources should not be the foundation of an energy policy for the 21st century. We need an energy policy that protects our wild places and invests more in cleaner, safer, renewable sources of energy.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call Now!
Phone calls are the most helpful action you can take because there is so little time. Please use the talking points below when you call. The number for the House switchboard, again, is 202-224-3121.
Thank you for helping us, once again, protect the incomparable Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And thank you for being an important part of WildAlert, our online community of wilderness advocates!
To find the fax number for your member of the House of Representatives, click here: http://www.house.gov
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TALKING POINTS
When you call your congressional office, simply tell the person who answers the phone that you'd like to provide your Representative your opinion about the Energy Bill. That person will take a message and may also be keeping a tally of calls. Please express these major points:
1. Please ask the Representative to support the amendment to the energy bill that will protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.
2. The Arctic Refuge is an incomparable wilderness and important wildlife habitat.
3. Oil development will do little for American energy security; we need an energy policy that protects wild places and invests more in cleaner, safer, renewable energy sources.
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