From: Debbie Neustadt, Iowa Chapter Executive Committee. The last paragraph contained some suggestions on strategy that I deleted since Iowa Topics is open to the public. Otherwise, this is a memo from Carl Pope to the activists in the Sierra Club. The early spring I mentioned in my last memo is blossoming into a hot summer in March. This has been the most intense, and probably the most successful, week for the Sierra Club legislatively since the energy bill imploded in 2003. The highlight was the defeat -- even though such defeats are always temporary -- of the President's Clear Lies proposal, really nothing more or less than a repeal of the Clean Air Act as far as older power plants and factories and refineries are concerned. The bill died in a deadlocked Senate Environment Committee when independent Senator James Jeffords joined his New England Republican colleague, Lincoln Chafee, and the Committee's Democrats, to turn down Senator Jim Inhofe's efforts to bring the Lies to the Senate floor. The mark up was highly charged, with accusations from the Republicans of Democratic inflexibility, and from Democrats about failure of EPA to provide sufficient information for informative discussions. Sen. Inhofe indicated that the Committee was moving on to other matters, such as the highway bill, while most Democrats spoke about the need for ongoing discussions. The possibility of a different multi-pollutant bill was discussed, leaving the door open for a process which could drag on for months. Hopefully, the committee fireworks will dampen that enthusiasm, as we remain concerned that any bill that gets out of committee will not remain “good” throughout the process. The Administration, like a cat that falls flat on its face, tried to pretend that nothing had happened, licked itself and proceeded to publish a long held up regulation on air pollution called the Interstate Transfer Rule which while inadequate, has the striking virtue that it makes air pollution problems better, not worse, and doesn't weaken the fabric of the Clean Air Act. Nat Mund who has led this overall effort in DC was quoted in the NY Times, as well as Canadian TV. Ace clean air lawyer Bruce Niles led the story in the Chicago Tribune and our view was picked up all over the Midwest in places like Milwaukee and Akron. Coming after the court victory that the Clean Water Act actually applies to factory feedlots (such judicial activism, tut tut), and the earlier signal that a bipartisan coaltion in the House is determined to stop the Administration from making America safe for sewage blending, three of the radical right's major environmental initiatives appear to be on the ropes this week. The fourth is teetering on the edge. On Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee reported out the FY2006 Budget Resolution which includes $2.5 billion in revenues derived from lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As you know drilling proponents are trying to use the Budget process to advance Arctic drilling because it protects them from a certain filibuster of this controversial issue. A amendment in committee to strike the drilling revenues was defeated along party lines. It wasn't a surprise, given the makeup of the committee but it demonstrates we are going to fight this along every step of the way. We expect a showdown on the Senate floor next week. On Wednesday Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will offer an amendment to strike the Arctic drilling revenues from the Budget Resolution. We are getting ready by hosting over 1700 House parties showing "Oil on Ice," the Sierra Club Productions film on protecting the Refuge; by reaching out to the Sierra Club's partners in labor unions, communities of faith, the hunting and angling community, native American groups, and the business community. Be proud. Keep working. Hold on to your seat belt. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp