Once again President George Bush has inserted a proposal to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into his annual budget proposal. The Bush administration said it will push Congress this year to open the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, and hopes to begin leasing tracts in the area to energy companies in 2006. Even though the Senate has voted several times against giving oil companies access to the refuge, the White House included the drilling plan in its proposed 2005 government budget sent to Congress. Last March the Senate squelched such a proposal cold. The administration said in its budget that opening the refuge would raise an initial $2.4 billion in leasing fees and half that amount would go toward increased funding for the Energy Department's renewable energy technology research programs over seven years. "This act only shows how deeply out of touch the President is with current political and economic realities," said Cindy Shogan, Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League. In order to make sure that Congress is not eager to discuss this issue, they need to hear outrage from people that "here we go again, these guys just don't understand "NO". Please forward this alert to as many folks as possible. LET CONGRESS KNOW (LOUDLY) THAT THEY SHOULDN'T EVEN BE DISCUSSING AN ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN REJECTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND TO WHICH THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE STILL OPPOSED! CALL THE CAPITAL SWITCHBOARD AT 1-800-839-5276 AND ASK TO BE BE CONNECTED WITH THE OFFICE OF YOUR SENATOR / REPRESENTATIVE Tell them that under no circumstance should they support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, least of all in the context of the annual budget. Vicky Hoover Sierra Club Alaska Task Force 85 Second St., 2nd floor San Francisco, CA 94105-3441 415-977-5527 [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp