2) Arctic Update During the last few years the Bush administration, Big Oil, and their pro-drilling allies in Congress have resorted every trick in the book to try and open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. During that time the Sierra Club and our coalition partners have been largely successful in fighting back those attempts. In 2006 the political landscape surrounding the Arctic refuge underwent a significant seismic shift. Looking back over the past 6 months there were two monumental events which have reshaped the Arctic drilling debate; 1) the Prudhoe Bay shutdown in August, and 2) the midterm elections in November when the Democrats took back control of both the House and the Senate. When Prudhoe Bay was forced to shut down in August of last year, the photos of oil covered snow and tundra were a chilling reminder of another fateful oil spill back in 1989. Not since the Exxon Valdez had so large an oil spill occurred in Alaska. The public opinion impacts were nearly as dramatic. The myth of environmentally sensitive oil drilling was dealt a huge blow, along with the idea that oil companies could be good stewards of the environment. On Capitol Hill this shift was also felt as the Arctic protection champs found new footing and strongly denounced further attempts to attach Arctic drilling to the budget or to force drilling provisions through the Senate. The volatility in the oil industry also influenced the midterm elections held in November. Smart energy solutions, including renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, became central issues in many House and Senate races across the country. When the dust finally settled after the elections, the Democrats had made historic gains and taken back both the House and the Senate. In the House Rep. Richard Pombo, one of the leading proponents of Arctic drilling, was defeated due primarily to his extreme environmental stances and the efforts of the environmental community to highlight his ties to big oil. These changes in Congress promise a new day for the Arctic Refuge, with our Hill champions eager to push for permanent protections for the Refuge and across the entire North Slope. In the House, Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) have re-introduced the bill to permanently protect the Arctic Refuge as wilderness, and for you history buffs they have secured the historic ANILCA bill number, HR 39. We expect the companion bill to be introduced in the Senate very soon. The 110th Congress has hit the ground running and the Sierra Club is looking forward to pushing ahead with a positive agenda of permanent protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, and the offshore areas in the Arctic including the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. # - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp