Sierrans:

This morning an article appeared in the Des Moines Register about the Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham visit to Ames yesterday, where he made the case
for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, yet again. This is an
excellent opportunity for responding with letters to the editor (LTEs)
re-stating the Sierra Club position and contrasting Congressman Ganske¹s or
Congresssman Latham¹s position with that of Sierra Club¹s.

You are not required to identify yourself as a Sierra Club spokesperson, you
might just state that you are a member.

The article is below in the email-quoted paragraphs, preceded by a sample
LTE which you may use as a basis for your LTE. More than one letter, and to
both the Ames Tribune and the Des Moines Register, or other Central Iowa
newspaper would be great! Have at it!

Thanks for your consideration.

Lyle Krewson
Iowa EVEC Coordinator


SAMPLE LTE:

To The Editor:

Though the Bush Administration continues to push a shortsighted energy plan
("Energy secretary urges quick deal"), we cannot drill our way to energy
independence.  Drilling the Arctic Refuge will not solve our country's
energy woes, but it will forever destroy one of our nation's last great
wilderness areas.

Unfortunately, our Representative Greg Ganske (R-04) voted to authorize
destructive oil development in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, home
to caribou, grizzly bear and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. Rep.
Ganske's refusal to protect one of America's last wild places is
characteristic for an official with a history of anti-environmental votes.

Clean air and clean water are part of our Iowa heritage, but Rep. Ganske
has voted 3 times in the last 2 years against enforcing the laws that
protect our families' air and water.  Rep. Ganske even voted once to let
corporate polluters off the hook and force taxpayers to clean up corporate
messes.

Call Rep. Ganske at (515) 284-4634, [or Congresssman Latham at (712)
737-8708] and tell him to vote to safeguard the air we breathe, the water we
drink, and the land we love, for our families, for our future.


> *******
>                  
> Energy secretary urges quick deal
>                  
> Spencer Abraham urges Congress to pass legislation that will help
> reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil.
>                  
> By THOMAS BEAUMONT
> Register Staff Writer
> 08/29/2002 Ames, Ia. - U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham urged
> Congress to quickly forge an energy bill compromise to protect the
> nation's energy supply and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
>                  
> Abraham, in Iowa to tour the Ames Laboratory and raise money for a
> Republican congressional candidate, urged House and Senate conference
> negotiators to get to work right away when they return to Washington,
> D.C., next week. 
>                  
> "I think the bill the House passed was an excellent bill and, frankly, the
> Senate had a lot of good things in its bill, though not everything we
> would want," Abraham said after touring the lab on the Iowa State
> University campus and talking to employees. "But there's enough common
> ground to finish the job."
>                  
> Abraham praised efforts at the lab to develop anti-terrorism technology,
> such as equipment that could detect biochemical weapons. He later attended
> a fund-raiser for Des Moines lawyer Stan Thompson of Des Moines, a
> candidate for Congress.
>                  
> President Bush has repeatedly pushed Congress to send him an energy bill
> that will reduce dependence on foreign oil.
>                  
> "We can grow our way to become less dependent on foreign sources of crude
> oil. It's in our nation's interest that we become less dependent on
> foreign sources of energy," Bush said at the Iowa State Fair earlier this
> month.           
>                  
> The former Michigan senator, who once sponsored a bill to abolish the
> Energy Department, also chided the Democrat-controlled Senate for not
> passing an energy bill until this year.
>                  
> "In the Senate, I can be a little bit critical of my former colleagues,
> who took too much time, unfortunately, and didn't get it done as soon as
> we'd like," he said.
>                  
> One sticking point is whether to authorize oil drilling in the Alaskan
> National Wildlife Refuge. The House passed its measure including the
> provision a year ago. The Senate passed its bill in April after stripping
> it out.          
>                  
> The Senate bill includes a requirement to triple ethanol production, which
> has been described as a potential boon to Iowa and other corn-producing
> states. The House bill has no ethanol requirement.
>                  
> Abraham has said the bill is in the nation's interest without the threat
> of war with Iraq, but that allowing Alaskan drilling would offset 35 years
> of Iraqi imports.
>                  
------ End of Forwarded Message

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