Both Congressman Braley and Loebsack co-sponsored the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Bill (HR 139) and we need to thank them! Phyllis The Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Bill (HR 139) has been introduced again this session – and already we have many Champs to thank! This bill has the same language and bill number as last session, and will provide permanent Wilderness protection for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Please send a short note to your Representative (if in this group) to thank them for once again co-sponsoring permanent protection for the Refuge: MN – Congresswoman McCollum (MN-04), Congressman Ellison (MN-05), Congressman Nolan (MN-08)IA – Congressman Braley (IA-01), Congressman Loebsack (IA-02) King and Latham – still need to hear from us! – contact them and ask them to please co-sponsor this important legislation. Arctic Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down and returning home to Colorado. The Arctic Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) was not finalized before he left, so along with our partners, Alaska Wilderness League will continue to contact the new Secretary, Sally Jewell, to ask her to finalize this important plan for our nation’s wilderness icon. Recently 13 CEOs of conservation groups, including: Alaska Wilderness League, National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, Native American Rights Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ocean Conservancy, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell moments after she was sworn into office to encourage her to finalize the overdue Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as one of her first acts in office.After more than three years of work by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska and Washington, DC, a CCP for the Arctic Refuge is nearly complete, and signers to the letter urged Jewell to get it over the finish line. On Wednesday, April 17, Alaska Wilderness League activists from across the country alongside a menagerie of Arctic animal mascots welcomed Interior Secretary Jewell to Washington, DC. They delivered the letter in person along with comments from 125,000 people that urged her predecessor to get the job done. 3. Continuing to work to keep the Arctic Oceans free of development Alaska Wilderness League along with the groups listed below have been mobilizing and organizing activists online and offline to add their names to the push to protect the Arctic Ocean from Shell and other Big Oil companies – and the momentum is working, as Shell has already cancelled plans to drill this year after 12 months of errors, mishaps, and near-disasters, and Conoco Phillips has cancelled plans to begin to pursue Arctic drilling.An oil spill in the Arctic Ocean could devastate human and wildlife communities alike. President Obama cannot allow drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Shell’s long list of setbacks and failures – coupled with the extreme risk for oil spills and further climate destruction in an already fragile ecosystem – provides overwhelming evidence that the oil and gas industry is not prepared to operate safely in the Arctic Ocean. President Obama should prioritize protecting the Arctic as part of his climate legacy and not approve any further offshore drilling in the region. Alaska Wilderness League has called on President Obama to begin his climate legacy by saying no to Arctic Ocean drilling. You can add your name to our petition here: http://act.alaskawild.org/sign/Climate_Legacy/ The Coalition Released the Following Statement: “For hundreds of thousands of Americans, seeing Shell’s drilling rig run aground in the harsh Arctic weather last December was the last straw. The outpouring of action since then is a loud and clear signal that President Obama should suspend all risky and dangerous drilling activities in the Arctic Ocean. In one year, one of Shell’s ships caught fire, rigs lost control, ran aground, and became the subject of criminal investigations, proving time and time again companies are not prepared for the Arctic. On March 14, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar admitted that ‘Shell screwed up’ and announced it would not be allowed back into the Arctic without major changes. The nearly 2 million Americans who have spoken up recognize that if the largest and wealthiest company in the world cannot figure out how to drill safely in the Arctic, all of this risky and dangerous drilling should be put on hold immediately. Now, it’s time the Obama administration recognizes the same thing and reflects it in policy. The administration should not make any new decisions until it has completed a more thorough review of all drilling operations in the Arctic, implemented the most rigorous standards and determined whether and under what conditions to allow offshore drilling. As nominee for Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell should prioritize these challenges, and make sure that the Interior Department does not make the same mistakes again, acting immediately to put a pause in the Arctic until this in-depth review is complete. The threat to America’s Arctic from drilling doesn't just stop at spills and disasters, and the destruction of one of our most pristine places. Dredging up more dirty fuels and then burning them into our atmosphere is a one-two punch for America’s Arctic, destroying one of our most pristine places and making the climate crisis that is melting the region even worse. The administration can’t build a climate change legacy while drilling in the Arctic Ocean. In one year, Shell proved beyond a doubt that no Big Oil company is prepared to drill in the Arctic and the potential threats this destructive practice would pose are numerous. But, if the Obama administration needed another reason to rethink the United States’ Arctic Ocean drilling program, they now have nearly 2 million more of them.” The coalition is made up of the following organizations: Sierra Club – Alaska Wilderness League – Center for Biological Diversity – Friends of the Earth – Greenpeace – Earthjustice – National Audubon Society – Natural Resources Defense Council – The Wilderness Society – League of Conservation Voters – CREDO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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