CONSERVATION, SPORTING AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS

WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT ALASKA’S PUBLIC LANDS

 

Why The Arctic Fight is Not Over and Steps You Can Take Now

To Prevent Arctic Drilling From Becoming Law!

 

Dear Alaska Coalition Members and Activists,

 

After speaking to several activists, it became clear to me that many individuals in our grassroots network were feeling as though the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was over. Therefore, I felt it was important to dispel that belief, try to clear up any confusion, and let you know what you can do now to keep the Arctic Refuge protected.  The events over the last couple of months have been confusing and it is perfectly understandable how one could think the fight is over.  Hopefully, this email will provide you with a better understanding of the budget process, what has happened over the last few months and more importantly what needs to happen next in order to keep drilling out of the Arctic Refuge.

 

Despite our recent losses in Congress, the laws that protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling remain in place and we still have the opportunity to stop measures that threaten to change those laws. While we had hoped to halt efforts to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling by stopping the budget resolution from passing, by no means was that our last opportunity to remove these provisions.  The budget resolution, which passed the House and Senate on April 28, 2005, is simply a blueprint specifying the amount of money each committee must raise, but does not direct the committees on how to raise it.  Furthermore, the budget resolution is non-binding and does not have the power to change law; therefore, while language in the budget resolution opened the door to drilling by providing the committees with the opportunity to change the law, the budget resolution itself has not changed anything and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains protected by law from drilling.  In order to maintain that protection and not allow the committees to change the law, we must win the final round of the budget process, known as budget reconciliation. 

 

Budget reconciliation is the process by which authorizing committees, in our case the House Resources Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, change laws in order to meet the revenues set forth in the budget resolution.  In other words these two committees are given instructions in the budget resolution to raise a certain amount of money, which by no coincidence is equal to the estimated revenue that might be generated from oil and gas leasing in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.  Therefore, in order to raise these revenues, these committees will likely recommend that the budget committee change the law that currently protects the Arctic Refuge from drilling.  We can assume this will happen because the chairmen of both these committees are proponents of drilling and have done it before. Assuming they will try this again, we have devised a strategy and our prepared to defeat this effort by stopping the budget reconciliation from passing in both the House and Senate.

 

Stopping the budget reconciliation is our last opportunity legislatively to stop drilling provisions in the Arctic Refuge from becoming law.  After that it will be up to the courts to stop the madness. Please help us stop it from going that far by joining us in our campaign now to stop the budget reconciliation from passing!

 

What You Can Do:

1. Send an email letting your members of Congress know how you feel about their most recent vote on the budget resolution and encourage them to vote against the budget reconciliation if it allows drilling in the Arctic Refuge - Click here to email your Senators and click here to email your Representative.

2. Call your members of Congress - Click here to call your Senators and your Representative.

To see how all Members of Congress voted click on the appropriate link:

• Representatives
• Senators

 3. Write an LTE – Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper telling them that you support protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and encourage citizens to contact their members of Congress and urge them to vote against a budget reconciliation that allows drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

4. Spread the Word -- Tell your family, friends, and colleagues about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and our campaign to protect it.  Encourage them to join you in taking action by contacting their members of Congress.

Thank you once again for all your hard work and continued support! We can make sure the laws that protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling remain in place by stopping budget reconciliation, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP!  PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW!