Arctic Update

TIMING AND NEXT STEPS:
As you all know, last week by a razor thin margin, the Senate passed a 
Budget Resolution which includes a reconciliation instruction to the Senate 
Energy Committee to authorize oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge.  The Senate Energy Committee must now craft legislation to open the 
Arctic Refuge to oil and gas leasing in hopes of $3 billion of revenue to 
the federal treasury.  That reconciliation language will then be folded into 
the overall Budget Reconciliation bill which must be passed by the entire 
Senate. However, the Senate will then be forced to conference its version of 
the Budget Resolution with the House version.

The conference report is subject to a straight up or down vote in both the 
House and Senate.

The House Budget Committee is scheduled to mark-up their Budget Resolution 
on March 29.  Last year, a similar attempt to advance Arctic drilling 
through  the budget process failed in the House of Representatives where 
objections from moderate Republicans forced leadership to strip Arctic 
drilling language from a larger budget package.

Thanks to the grassroots pressure and the renewed  opposition from House 
moderate Republicans, House Budget Committee Chairman Nussle has recently 
been quoted as saying that his budget will NOT include Arctic drilling 
language.   This does not mean the battle in the House is won.   We must 
keep up the pressure.  Even if Arctic drilling is not included in the House 
budget at this time, this is very likely a strategy to get a budget through 
the House and to conference where we fully expect that they will try insert 
Arctic into the final Conference Report.

Now is the time to turn up the heat on the House.  Please contact Rep. Jim 
Leach and let him know you do not want Arctic drilling language included in 
the House budget.  Rep. Leach can be contacted at 202-225-6576 by phone,  
202 226-1278 by fax or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]


Neila Seaman, MPA
Director
Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA  50310
[log in to unmask]
515-277-8868

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