Posted by Jane Clark Defenders Rural Updates! November 27, 2001 Events that will shape the next farm bill are moving quickly in Washington and your help is needed! See the action alerts below and Please feel free to forward this information widely. To subscribe to this free weekly newsletter go to: www.familyfarmer.org/sections/ruralsubscribe.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Farm Bill in Senate This Week!(?) 2. Arctic Drilling and The Farm Bill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. FARM BILL IN SENATE THIS WEEK!(?) With the Senate in a crunch to finish its business before the targeted adjournment of December 8, reports keep circulating that the Farm Bill will come up for a full Senate vote at any time. That said, there is still no concrete indication of when to expect it -- leaving us with the estimate of sometime between tomorrow and next Friday. While the bill reported by the Senate Agriculture Committee is better than the House bill passed in October, there is still plenty of room for improvement: 1) The Senate bill subsidizes factory farm livestock operations; 2) More investment in conservation is needed; 3) The Competition Title should be reinstated; 4) The Commodity title won't help raise prices for farmers, and; 5) The forest stewardship provisions pose serious ecological concerns and need to be changed. In addition, there is rumor that an amendment that would allow for drilling in the Arctic Refuge might be added to the bill (see # 2 below). Please call your Senator TODAY and tell him or her to support the above measures to improve the Farm Bill. You can reach your Senator through the Capitol Switchboard at the following toll free number 1-800-648-3516 For more information, please visit www.familyfarmer.org 2. ARCTIC DRILLING AND THE FARM BILL Would Senate Republicans dead-set on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) attempt to attach a rider onto the upcoming farm bill? On top of rumors now circulating behind closed doors in the capital, the Ancorage News is reporting that Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Idaho Senator Larry Craig are considering using the Farm Bill as a "vehicle" to push this agenda. According to Craig, "Most of our farmers understand that good farm policy is good energy policy, or vice versa, because they use energy in a very extensive way." This leaves these oil state Senators facing the challenge of convincing farmers that drilling in the arctic, which will yield less that six months of oil and take ten years to develop, is going to help oil prices and is a better idea than development of local energy economies where farmers make money from developing solar, wind and biomass. But, according to DC insiders, drilling proponents are trying to take advantage of the fact that many Senators including some who have opposed drilling in the Arctic Refuge consider the Farm Bill to be "must-pass" legislation and might be induced to vote for drilling in order to get a Farm Bill passed this year. So far the oil lobby is not doing too well. The nations two largest farm organizations, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation have signed a letter asking Senate leaders "to oppose any effort to add unrelated or non- agriculture related issues" to the farm bill. You can tell your Senators the same by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. For more information on the effects of drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and how America can meet its energy needs and create jobs without drilling, please visit http://www.savearcticrefuge.org" www.savearcticrefuge.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]