Forwarded by Jane Clark at [log in to unmask]

++Senate Floor Vote on Arctic Refuge Expected Tuesday++

Please call Senators Grassley and Harkin.  The Capitol switchboard number
is (202)224-3121.  Your call could make the difference as we are within
striking distance of winning this vote.  It doesn't cost that much to call
and a phone call could be more effective than an e-mail.  Even if you
contacted them last week, please do it again.

**Under the guise of combating high gas prices, some politicians are
pressing to open the coastal plain to oil exploitation. The most
immediate threat comes from a provision in the 2001 Budget Resolution
expected to be debated on the Senate floor this week.  (They have inserted
a provision in the FY2001 Budget Resolution that would encourage oil
development by assuming revenue from as yet unauthorized drilling in the
coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.)

Urge our senators to defend the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil
development!

AND -- Tomorrow Senator Roth(R-DE), the author of the Arctic Wilderness
bill will offer an amendment to strike the Arctic Drilling provision from
the FY2001 Budget Resolution.  We expect the full senate to vote on the
amendment either Tuesday or Wednesday.

 ***Please call your Senator and urge them to
+protect the Arctic Refuge from oil and gas development+
by SUPPORTING THE ROTH AMENDMENT.***

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Let them know you oppose plundering our nation's last vestige of
protected Arctic wilderness for a questionable, short-term supply of
oil.  Please ask them to support the Roth amendment to the budget bill that
would strike Arctic Refuge drilling revenues from the federal budget. Urge
them to cosponsor the legislation introduced by Senator William Roth
(S.867) that will forever safeguard the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
coastal plain and the spectacular wildlife that depend on it.

 Background

 America can never drill its way to energy independence.  We
 import more than 55% of our oil and America sits on less than 3%
 of the world's known energy reserves.  Opening our nation's last
 remaining wild places is not the answer to the problem that
 consumer's face at the pump.  And spectacular landscapes like
 the Arctic Refuge should not be sacrificed. The coastal plain of
 the Refuge is the last sliver (5%) of Alaska's North Slope not
 currently available for oil and gas development.  95% is
 presently available to oil and gas leasing. Moreover, no one
 even knows if -- or how much -- oil is actually there.  Drilling
 the Arctic Refuge would be as foolhardy as damming the Grand
 Canyon, or tapping Old Faithful.

Help take part in this fight and potential victory. Thanks for your work.

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