Hello, Arctic Arctivists -- it's happening -- as we knew it would : Action on the Arctic, in the context of the Energy bill about to be debated and votedf in the Senate. Time to let those senators hear from us! Here's the message from Debbie Sease, legislative director in our DC office: (excuse duplication if you have received this.) -------------------- Next week the Senate will begin consideration of Senator Daschle's energy bill, unless things change -- which is always possible in the Senate. Debate will last for at least several days and maybe several weeks. It may be interrupted for other legislation. We anticipate many amendments will be offered to weaken the bill, as well as some amendments may be offered to strengthen it. Thanks to the efforts of so many volunteers and staff in all parts of the Club on this huge priority, we are as ready for this fight as we can be! But our work is not over yet. Details follow about timing, key amendments, and our message to Senators: Timing Currently, the Senate plans to take up the Energy Bill on Wednesday the 27th, but this is predicated on the assumption that when the Campaign Finance Reform bill is brought up on Tuesday some Senators will object and launch a filibuster ( a procedural tactic that delays action.) This would then give the Senate time to turn their attention to the Energy bill on Wednesday -- at least until they were ready to return to CFR. Under any case, the Energy debate will not finish up next week. Amendments and Process The fight over Daschle's energy bill began last week when Senator Levin of Michigan, objected when Daschle introduced the bill. Daschle withdrew the bill and instead introduced it as an amendment to S. 517 -- an obscure energy bill. We expect extended debate, many amendments, and perhaps multiple filibusters (some from friends and some from foes. We also expect multiple cloture votes (a procedural vote that forces an end to the filibuster.) However, it is completely unclear what the order of any of these will be. Most likely, the debate will start with some relatively noncontroversial amendments. Our opponents are likely to save the more contentious ones for later, after momentum has been developed. We hear that the Administration is interested in getting some bill out of the Senate, as a "ticket to conference" with the House bill which passed last summer. Among the hostile amendments we expect will be offered are: Amendment to add Arctic drilling to the bill, and if that fails, some kind of compromise Arctic drilling to the bill -- Arctic lite. Amendment to weaken or strip out the Fuel Economy (CAFE) provisions of the bill. (the bill currently contains a Kerry compromise that calls for raising CAFE standards to 35mpg) Amendment to weaken or strip out the requirement for increasing the percentage of energy we generate from renewable fuels. (the bill currently calls for 10% renewable fuels by the year 2020.) Amendment to "streamline" the permitting process for any kind of energy development. This would provide a fast track for bypassing environmental safeguards when considering new energy developments. Among the amendments that may be offered to strengthen the bill are: Amendment to increase the renewable fuel requirement from 10% by 2020 to 20% by 2020 Amendment to provide additional protection from energy developments for special places on the public lands. These are just the highlights of good and bad amendments that may be offered. There will probably be many more. Our Message to the Senators In the next weeks as this bill is being debated, we will want to keep up the pressure on the Senate to oppose all amendments that would weaken the Energy bill, and support amendments to improve it. As we approach votes on particular amendments, we will be sending out action alerts on those specific issues, but for now, we want to urge Senators to: Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling by supporting a filibuster and voting against cloture on an Arctic drilling amendment. Support the new increased fuel economy (CAFE) standards in the bill, by opposing any amendment to strike the fuel economy standards or to weaken the standards. Support the requirement that at least 10% of our power be generated from renewable fuels (such as solar and wind) by the year 2020, by opposing any amendments to strip or weaken the provision, and if Senator Jeffords offers an amendment to increase this to 20% vote for it. Protect our public lands by opposing any amendments to "streamline" new energy developments to bypass environmental safeguards. Support any amendments to provide additional protection from energy development for special places on the public lands. Lots of calls to Senators needed! Thanx __________________ Vicky Hoover Sierra Club Alaska Task Force (415)977-5527 [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]