URGENT ACTION ALERT BACKGROUND ON ANTICIPATED SENATE CLOTURE VOTES ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 In their latest attempt to ramrod the destructive House-passed energy bill through the Senate, Minority Leader Trent Lott and Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski will be offering a version of H.R. 4 to the Railroad Retirement Bill on Monday, December 3. Our champions are filibustering this Lott/Murkowski Amendment, and there will be a cloture vote to stop the filibuster on THIS Monday at 5pm. Lott needs 60 votes to move his amendment forward. Our goal is to sustain the filibuster by having 40 plus Senators vote against cloture. Immediately following the Lott/Murkowski Amendment cloture vote, there will be a second cloture vote on an amendment by Senator Brownback imposing a moratorium on human cloning immediately following the cloture vote on energy. (We don't have a position on that amendment and are not asking you to take action on it.) Finally, just to make it more confusing, after the Lott and Brownback votes, Senator Daschle will hold a cloture vote on the underlying railroad retirement bill -- we should urge senators to vote for cloture on the Daschle motion because that will guarantee that any further damaging amendments will be subject to point of order and need 60 votes. We expect the Democrats to remain united on these cloture votes, and are concentrating on our swing Republicans. At this moment, we think that politics of the underlying railroad bill might possibly result in a lopsided vote in our favor, but we must let Republican offices know that this is a priority for the Sierra Club. We need field staff to make the action below a priority in your work on Monday. GOAL Defeat anti-environmental Senators' efforts to add anti-environmental House-passed energy bill (HR 4 which includes Arctic drilling) to the railroad retirement bill TIMING The cloture vote will be at 5 pm on Monday December 3. ACTION NEEDED: Call Senate offices MESSAGE (1) Urge target Senators to vote *against cloture* on the Lott/Murkowski Energy/Arctic Drilling amendment to the Railroad bill. The Senate leadership has pledged to bring up an energy bill in February, and that is where this debate belongs, not on this unrelated legislation. (2) Urge target Senators to vote for Daschle's cloture motion on the underlying railroad bill to stop any further efforts to attach anti-environmental amendments to unrelated legislation. (Note: See detailed talking points below, for our positive alternative energy bill which should include fuel efficiency and renewables. ) BACKGROUND TALKING POINTS Bottom line: this controversial, destructive energy bill does not belong on the Railroad bill. Vote *against cloture* on the Lott/Murkowski amendment. Our nation needs a sound energy policy based on increased fuel economy and more reliance on renewables such as wind and solar, which will truly address our energy security needs, unlike drilling in the Arctic. The Sierra Club strongly opposes H.R. 4, particularly its provision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Some drilling proponents are using the current national crisis to push forward efforts to open the Refuge to drilling in the name of "national security." The fact is, drilling in the Refuge or other sensitive public lands will not make a dent in our dependence on foreign oil, nor will it do anything to help improve national security. But it will forever destroy one of America's greatest natural treasures. Now is not the time for debate over controversial and divisive long-term energy policy. Attaching H.R. 4 or any other provision to open the Refuge to drilling will merely hold up consideration of other important and unrelated legislation. Please contact Alex Veitch at 202 675 7913 with any questions. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]