Hello Arctic friends,
This is a report on our Sept. trip
to DC for Arctic Rally and Action Day that was written by Glenn Phillips Sorry
for the delay!
From: Glenn Philips
<[log in to unmask]>
Subject: DC Trip
Report
Republican idealogues like to work in secrecy and scatter like
cockroaches
when the light is shown on them!!!!! To these ends we Enviro's
had the
largest single issue lobby day in history. Five to seven
thousand activists
traveled to Washington DC on Sept 20th to attend a rally
on the West Lawn of
the Capitol. The crowd included over two dozen
activists from the "other
Washington" plus a group of students from UW who
participated in a special
Arctic studies course last summer.
Luminaries such as Robert F. KennedyJr.,
Senator Hillary Clinton, and
John Kerry all rallied the troops. Senator
Clinton told us we had
already a disaster known as Katrina; we don't need
another one in Alaska!!!
Senator Kerry characterized Arctic oil reserves
as
inconsequential. He said it's like taking a cup of water, pouring it into
the ocean, and pretending you're raising the tide. The rally included
significant represenation by members of the Gwich'in Nation, from both sides
of the border.
After the rally, a sea of blue shirts descended upon
Congressonal offices.
Were we noticed? Listen to Rep. Jim Mc Dermott
(D): "These people are
everywhrere!!!!! " A group of us were lucky to
have a Brown bag lunch with
Rep. Mc Dermott. He gave us 30 minutes of
his time. We were fortunate to
have in our group two Alaskan
Natives who spoke passionately about the
impact of global warming on
the Arctic. Structures in thir villages are
sinking, for the
permafrost which has been in place for tens of thousands
of years is
melting. Rep. Mc Dermott was very impressed with our
presentation.
On Wednesday, at 8:30 AM, a group of us met for
coffee with Senator Patty
Murray. Anyone who attended was able
to have their picture taken with the
Seanator. We later gave her a
standing ovation for her outstanding
leadership in protecting the Refuge.
She was quite moved.
Thursday morning a smaller group had coffee
with Senator Maria Cantwell.
She spoke at great length on how our
economy must shift to alternate forms
of energy. She gave us a great
example that Brazil only uses 10 % of its
energy from oil. Afterwards
her aide, Amit Ronan, met with us for half an
hour. He told us that
among other strategies the Senator hopes to challenge
the Arctic provision
being included in the Budget Reconciliation Act by
invoking the Byrd Rule.
This parlimentary maneuver simply states that any
provision that is not
germane must be taken out.
Other in-person visits were to Rep. Dave
Reichart (R), Rep. Rick Larsen
(D), Rep. Norm Dicks (D), Rep.
Adam Smith (D), Rep Jay Inslee (D), Rep.
Brian Baird (D), Rep Cathy Mc
Morris (R), and an info drop was made to Rep.
Doc Hastings (R).
We
can count on all the D's in our state to vote down the Budget
Reconciliation
bill because of its proposed cuts in social sevices while at the
time giving
a $7 Billion tax cut to the wealthy. Rep. Reichart, however, is
critical for our chances of saving the Refuge. He is a swing vote
Republican. The budget passed last March in the house.
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