Senate votes to allow drilling in Alaskaís ANWR

On April 6, 2000, the U.S. Senate sided with the oil industry and voted
to
allow oil drilling in Alaskaís Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Senator Roth (R-DE) proposed an amendment that would have removed the
drilling language from the budget resolution, but the Senate voted to
table, or ìkillî the amendment by a vote of 51 to 49.  A ìNOî vote is
the
pro-environment vote.

The Senate FY2001 Budget Resolution assumes the federal government will
receive $1.2 billion from the sale of leases for oil exploration along
the
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2005.  Defeating

the Roth amendment will likely result in Senate consideration of
legislation (S.2214) to authorize the sale oil leases in the coastal
plain.
 The Senate may debate that legislation as early as this week as part of
a
larger energy package.

Proponents of oil exploration in the arctic coastal plain claim that
such
development will lower gasoline prices and reduce America's dependence
upon
foreign oil.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The proponents
of
oil exploration have exaggerated the amount of recoverable oil and even
if
such oil were retrieved, its impact on gas prices and our energy
security
would be miniscule, and not recognized for many years.  Therefore,
Americans would see no benefit from such a policy.  Only the oil
companies
would profit and we would lose one of our most precious natural
resources.

Please call or write your Senators about their vote on this
issue, thanking them for supporting the environment or objecting to
their
anti-environment position.  Check the list below to see how your
Senators
voted.

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Address: Your Senator, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20515

Key: + indicates a pro-environment vote, - indicates a vote against the
environment, ? indicates an absence, 0 indicates an ineligibility to
vote.

Alabama
  Shelby (R)             -
  Sessions, J. (R)       -

Alaska
  Stevens (R)            -
  Murkowski (R)          -

Arizona
  McCain (R)             -
  Kyl (R)                -

Arkansas
  Hutchinson, T. (R)    -
  Lincoln (D)           +

California
  Feinstein (D)         +
  Boxer (D)             +

Colorado
  Campbell, B. (R)      -
  Allard (R)            -

Connecticut
  Dodd (D)              +
  Lieberman (D)         +

Delaware
  Roth (R)              +
  Biden (D)             +

Florida
  Graham, B. (D)        +
  Mack (R)              -

Georgia
  Coverdell (R)         -
  Cleland (D)           +

Hawaii
  Inouye (D)            -
  Akaka (D)             -

Idaho
  Craig (R)             -
  Crapo (R)             -

Illinois
  Durbin (D)            +
  Fitzgerald (R)        +

Indiana
  Lugar (R)             +
  Bayh (D)              +

Iowa
  Grassley (R)          -
  Harkin (D)            +

Kansas
  Brownback (R)         -
  Roberts (R)           -

Kentucky
  McConnell (R)         -
  Bunning (R)           -

Louisiana
  Breaux (D)            -
  Landrieu (D)          +

Maine
  Snowe (R)             +
  Collins, S. (R)       +

Maryland
  Sarbanes (D)          +
  Mikulski (D)          +

Massachusetts
  Kennedy, E. (D)       +
  Kerry, J. (D)         +

Michigan
  Levin, C. (D)         +
  Abraham (R)           -

Minnesota
  Wellstone (D)         +
  Grams, R. (R)         -

Mississippi
  Cochran (R)           -
  Lott (R)              -

Missouri
  Bond (R)              -
  Ashcroft (R)          -

Montana
  Baucus, M. (D)        +
  Burns (R)             -

Nebraska
  Kerrey, R. (D)        +
  Hagel (R)             -

Nevada
  Reid, H. (D)          +
  Bryan (D)             +

New Hampshire
  Smith, R.C. (R)       +
  Gregg (R)             -

New Jersey
  Lautenberg (D)        +
  Torricelli (D)        +

New Mexico
  Domenici (R)          -
  Bingaman (D)          +

New York
  Moynihan (D)          -
  Schumer (D)           +

North Carolina
  Helms (R)             -
  Edwards, J. (D)       +

North Dakota
  Conrad (D)            +
  Dorgan (D)            +

Ohio
  DeWine (R)            -
  Voinovich (R)         -

Oklahoma
  Nickles (R)           -
  Inhofe (R)            -

Oregon
  Wyden (D)             +
  Smith, G. (R)         -

Pennsylvania
  Specter (R)           -
  Santorum (R)          -

Rhode Island
  Reed, J. (D)          +
  Chafee, L. (R)        +

South Carolina
  Thurmond, S. (R)      -
  Hollings (D)          +

South Dakota
  Daschle (D)           +
  Johnson, T. (D)       +

Tennessee
  Thompson, F. (R)      -
  Frist (R)             -

Texas
  Gramm, P. (R)         -
  Hutchison, K. (R)     -

Utah
  Hatch (R)             -
  Bennett (R)           -

Vermont
  Leahy (D)             +
  Jeffords (R)          +

Virginia
  Warner (R)            -
  Robb (D)              +

Washington
  Gorton, S. (R)        -
  Murray (D)            +

West Virginia
  Byrd (D)              +
  Rockefeller (D)       +

Wisconsin
  Kohl (D)              +
  Feingold (D)          +

Wyoming
  Thomas, C. (R)        -
  Enzi (R)              -