For Immediate Release
November 18, 2005

Contact:
David Willett, 202-675-6698


House Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill Sans Arctic and Offshore Drilling;
                        Bad Land Provisions Remain
       Budget Could Become Vehicle For Rejected Drilling Provisions

          Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director

"Early this morning the House passed, by the narrowest of margins, a Budget
Reconciliation bill that spares the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and
coastlines from drilling but puts America's public lands up for sale. The
Sierra Club is delighted that the controversial provisions for drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife and offshore were stripped from the budget
package prior to a vote but remain concerned that the bill will become a
vehicle for the resurrection of these rejected ideas.

"We thank those Members of Congress who helped keep Arctic and offshore
drilling out of the budget in this round. We urge them to stand strong and
ensure that the budget does not become a vehicle for those losing
provisions and the bad measures on mining and cuts to conservation programs
that remained in the bill. America deserves an honest dialogue about a real
energy future, not bogus policy crammed through in the federal budget.

"The removal of Arctic and coastal drilling by no means implies this bill
is good for America. The House passed a bill loaded down with draconian
cuts to programs for the most vulnerable in our country, provisions to
allow mining and other companies to privatize public lands, serious funding
cuts for important conservation programs, and a split in the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals.

"The removal of Arctic and coastal drilling clearly demonstrates that
attempts to pass Arctic Refuge and coastal drilling through the budget
process are non-starters with the American people and the House. Leadership
was under intense pressure from moderate Republicans opposed to drilling,
and we hope their firm stand serves as a warning that any budget that would
open the Arctic Refuge or America?s coasts to destructive drilling faces a
dead-end in the House.

"Unfortunately, the oil and gas industries and their allies in Congress
will not take 'no' for an answer. They have coveted the America's Arctic
Refuge and coasts for decades, and they will not give up easily. The Senate
version of the Budget does include an Arctic drilling provision, and they
will try to send a final bill back to the House with Arctic drilling still
in. And some members in the House are still intent on opening up America's
coasts to oil and gas drilling as well."

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