> Hill Update 10/27/2005
>    Senate Refineries Bill Defeated
>    Arctic Vote Coming Fast in Budget Reconciliation
>     Enviro Waivers still Search for Vehicle
> 
> HUGE VICTORY ON REFINERIES LEGISLATION!!
> 
> The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
> deadlocked 9-9,
> defeating Sen. James Inhofe’s (R-OK) refinery bill
> on a key vote from Sen.
> Lincoln Chafee (R-RI).  Chafee, under pressure from
> our aggressive lobbying
> and grassroots contacts, joined with all the
> Democrats on the Committee to
> block what would have been a “ticket to
> Conference” with the terrible
> Barton (R-TX) bill passed by the House.  Though
> Inhofe pledged to try and
> attach his measure to another vehicle moving on the
> Senate floor,
> yesterday’s defeat in Committee will make that
> much more difficult.
> 
> Congratulations to Jennifer Tuttle in RI and Brendan
> Bell in the DC Office
> for helping to swing Chafee the right way!
> 
> Despite the focus on Environment and Public Works,
> the Barton bill has been
> referred to the Senate Energy Committee.  Now the
> focus shifts to the New
> Mexico Senators and others to beat back the House
> attempts to weaken Clean
> Air Act non-attainment deadlines, streamline permit
> processes for
> refineries, and other damaging provisions.  It is
> important to remind
> Energy Committee Senators that Chairman Pete
> Domenici (R-NM) and Ranking
> Member Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) combined in a bipartisan
> way to keep Barton’s
> “bump-up” non-attainment provisions out of the
> larger energy bill passed
> last summer.
> 
> The timely release of gluttonous 3rd Quarter profit
> figures for the oil
> industry have combined with consumer anger over high
> gas prices to dampen
> chances for additional energy legislation this year.
>  Environment and
> Energy Daily wrote this morning, “Given
> ConocoPhillips' report yesterday
> that it had notched an 89 percent third-quarter
> profit, and with other
> similar sounding reports expected this week from
> other major oil companies,
> Republican lawmakers could quickly lose the desire
> to move energy
> legislation, sources say. While the Republican
> leadership has sought to put
> a public face forward that it is concerned about the
> issue, some say it may
> be growing gun-shy in light of a series of tight
> votes it has faced since
> Katrina on energy legislation.”
> 
> LET’S KEEP THE HEAT ON!
> 
> Senate to Vote on Arctic Drilling when they take up
> Budget Reconciliation
> Next Week
> Background:   Though once thought to be on a slower
> track than the House,
> the Senate leadership has indicated it will likely
> take up its version of
> the Budget Reconciliation Package as early as next
> week.  As reported
> previously, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
> Committee marked up
> legislation to authorize lease sales and oil
> drilling in the 1.5 million
> acre coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge on October
> 19. And yesterday, the
> Budget Committee took up all of the committees’
> changes to law and folded
> them into a large Budget Reconciliation package for
> the Senate floor.
> 
> Debate in the Senate could begin as early as Monday,
> the 31st, and the
> rumor is that they expect a final vote on the Budget
> Thursday night.
> Because of the rules governing debate on the federal
> Budget, Arctic
> drilling opponents cannot filibuster the measure, we
> must count on killing
> the entire Budget Reconciliation package.
> 
> Our Message:   Vote against any Budget Bill that
> would open the Arctic
> National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
> 
>  It is anticipated that all the Democrats will vote
> against final passage
>  of the Budget Reconciliation bill (although it is
> worth checking in w/
>  Dem. Senators as there may be $ for state programs
> that could sway their
>  vote.)  The swing votes on Arctic are the 7
> Senators who have consistently
>  voted against drilling in the past.  They are:
> 
>  Snowe (R-ME)
>  Collins (R-ME)
>  McCain (R-AZ)
>  Smith (R-OR)
>  Coleman (R-MN)
>  Dewine (R-OH)
>  Chafee  (R-RI)
> 
> Please get the word out to activists in the above
> states to call or fax
> these senators to urge them to oppose the Budget
> Reconciliation package
> because it would authorize oil drilling in the
> Arctic Refuge.  Attached you
> will find a sample alert, talking points as well as
> a sample Editorial
> Board Letter that you can email to your local paper
> in hopes that they
> might weigh in before this critical vote on the fate
> of the Refuge.
> 
> 
> House Reconciliation drawing groundswell of
> Opposition from Enviros and
> other groups
> In the face of mounting controversy over the drastic
> cuts to entitlement
> programs that serve needy families, the Senate bill
> tries to mitigate and
> mask the bills cuts to programs like Medicaid, food
> stamps, foster care
> programs and student aid.  The House version,
> however, makes even more
> draconian cuts in order to reach its goal of coming
> up with $50 billion in
> revenue savings. As a result, new constituencies
> such as labor and
> anti-poverty groups are ramping up their work to
> defeat the bill based on
> their concerns over cuts to entitlement programs.
> And these many
> controversial provisions are giving moderate
> Republican lawmakers
> additional reasons to oppose this massive bill.
> 
> The House Resources Committee passed their
> Reconciliation package on
> Wednesday and gave the public even more reason to
> oppose passage.  In
> addition to opening the Arctic Refuge to oil
> drilling, Pombo’s legislation
> would remove the coastal oil and gas drilling
> moratorium that protects our
> sensitive beaches and coastlines from drilling
> activities off-shore.  It
> allows states to opt-out of the moratorium and
> provides financial
> incentives in the form of revenue sharing.  There
> were additional
> provisions regarding land conveyances and horrible
> mining provisions.
> 
> The House Budget Committee is expected to act next
> week and a floor vote is
> expected in the House, the week of November 7.  The
> Arctic effort has
> largely focused on 30 moderate Republicans who have
> voted against drilling
> in the past.  With the addition of the controversial
> issue of lifting the
> OCS moratorium our campaign has expanded to include
> additional members of
> Congress from coastal districts.
> 
> Arctic Ads in a State Near You, Plus Sierra Club Web
> tools to focus on the
> Fight
> In anticipation of the upcoming floor votes, the
> community is running paid
> advertising in a number of states.  The Sierra Club,
> in addition to
> contributing to a broad print and cable buy
> targeting 5 of the 6 NJ
> Republicans last week, will run the following ads.
> 
> Wednesday, November 2:
> MAINE -- Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News
> (Snowe and Collins)
> PENNSYLVANIA -- Community Connection (Gerlach)
> 
> Thursday, November 3:
> PENNSYLVANIA -- Reading Eagle (Gerlach) and Free
> Press (Fitzpatrick)
> NEW YORK -- Poughkeepsie Journal (Kelley)
> 
> Wednesday, November 9:
> NEW YORK -- Poughkeepsie Journal (Kelley)
> MINNESOTA -- St. Cloud Times (Kennedy)
> 
> Next few weeks:
> WASHINGTON -- 7 buses (Reichert)
> 
> Over the course of the next two weeks, the Sierra
> Club website and all its
> tools will highlight the battle over the Arctic as
> well as the threat to
> our coasts that is being pushed through the Budget
> process.  Look at
> Currents, the main web page, RAW, the Insider,
> Carl’s blog and other
> features to feature the latest info.
> 
> Environmental Waivers Looking for a Vehicle
> In the Post -Katrina world, Members such as Inhofe,
> Vitter, Landrieu have
> pushed to waive environmental laws to speed 
> rebuilding. Senator Jeffords
> has lead the fight against these unneeded and
> overreaching proposals.  With
> all your help, we have  created a momentum against
> these proposals. For the
> time being, we need to keep talking about this
> because these waivers could
> be added to virtually any must-pass legislation. 
> Stand-along waiver
> legislation likely will not come to the floor on its
> own. We will keep you
> posted.
> 
> 
> 
> 


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