Once again President George Bush has inserted a proposal to drill
in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into his annual budget proposal.

The Bush administration said it will push Congress this year to open the
coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling,
and hopes to begin leasing tracts in the area to energy companies in 2006.
Even though the Senate has voted several times against giving oil companies
access to the refuge, the White House included the drilling plan in its
proposed 2005 government budget sent to Congress.  Last March the Senate
squelched such a proposal cold.

The administration said in its budget that opening the refuge would raise an
initial $2.4 billion in leasing fees and half that amount would go toward
increased funding for the Energy Department's renewable energy technology
research programs over seven years.

"This act only shows how deeply out of touch the President is with current
political and economic realities," said Cindy Shogan, Executive Director of
the Alaska Wilderness League.

In order to make sure that Congress is not eager to discuss this issue, they
need to hear outrage from people that "here we go again, these guys just
don't understand "NO".  Please forward this alert to as many folks as
possible.

LET CONGRESS KNOW (LOUDLY) THAT THEY SHOULDN'T EVEN BE DISCUSSING AN ISSUE
THAT HAS BEEN REJECTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND TO WHICH THE MAJORITY OF THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE STILL OPPOSED!

CALL THE CAPITAL SWITCHBOARD AT 1-800-839-5276 AND ASK TO BE BE CONNECTED
WITH THE OFFICE OF YOUR SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE

Tell them that under no circumstance should they support drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, least of all in the context of the annual
budget.

Vicky Hoover
Sierra Club Alaska Task Force
85 Second St., 2nd floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-3441
415-977-5527
[log in to unmask]

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