This is a request for your phone calls and faxes to the U.S. House of
Representatives to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge yet again.
Despite the Senate's 52-48 bipartisan rejection of Arctic drilling on March
19, the House continues to push its drilling
plans through every available vehicle.
We encourage you to take action before April 11, 2003
The latest attack 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.
Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and others will offer an
amendment on the floor next week to strike the Arctic Refuge provisions. 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 Arctic 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.
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.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call Now!
Phone calls are the most helpful action you can take because there is so
little time.
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;
4. 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 Rep._____ for such far-sighted leadership. I urge Rep.
_____ to support the amendment to strike Arctic Refuge oil drilling from the
Energy Bill.
If you are unable to call, you can send a fax to your
representative immediately from http://ga1.org/ct/SpqJMqY1d116/house_arctic
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Make no mistake: this bill poses a grave threat to the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. The Senate will mark up its own version of the bill next
week. In its current form, the Senate bill does not contain Arctic drilling
language, but if the House passes an Arctic drilling provision, 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
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 energy efficiency,
conservation and cleaner, safer, renewable sources of energy.
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