Stop the Sneak Attack on the Arctic Refuge!

The Fate of The Arctic In Your Hands!

VICTORY FOR NOW!!!
Thanks to all of our efforts, in a vote of 52 to 48, the Senate rejected an amendment to attach drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the Federal Budget! It was believed to have enough votes to pass - this is an especially fabulous victory in an unsettling time. GREAT JOB! Your phone calls, emails and faxes REALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE!!!


We have just learned that oil industry allies in the Senate are right now making a strong push to secure the votes they need to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. We need your immediate help.

These members of Congress are hatching a back-door scheme to hide their measure to drill in the Arctic Refuge in unrelated budget legislation. Drilling in the Refuge has nothing to do with the federal budget, and its fate should not be decided in that context. The only purpose of attaching this issue to unrelated legislation is to prevent an open debate and a vote

A vote in the Senate is likely to occur during the week of March 17th. Please take action today! Sign this petition to send a fax to your senators urging them to oppose efforts to allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

If you live in Minnesota, Arizona, Oregon or Arkansas, your action is urgently needed! After sending your fax, please call your Senators with a stong message urging them to protect the Refuge. Call the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your Senator's office: (202) 224-3121.

Dear Senator,

I am writing to urge you to vote against opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. Moreover, I urge you oppose efforts to insert an assumption of revenues from leasing the Arctic Refuge in the FY 2004 Budget Resolution.

Arctic drilling has nothing to do with balancing the budget and it has proven to be a highly controversial issue that deserves full debate before both bodies of Congress as part of comprehensive energy legislation. Serious questions remain as to the environmental impact drilling would have on this pristine area and the wildlife that depend on it. A recent scientific study found that "Experts find oil drilling harms Alaska...problems could last centuries." (New York Times, March 5, 2003)

The Arctic Refuge is a national treasure, home to wolves, polar bears, caribou and the staging ground for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. I believe this area should be preserved for future generations not plundered for a speculative amount of oil.

Drilling the Arctic will do little to address our country's energy needs. In fact, the US Geological Survey estimates that if oil were found beneath the coastal plain, it would amount to less oil than the U.S. consumes in six months.. Oil executives admit that it would take ten years for Arctic oil to reach market. The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration recently stated that even when oil production from the Arctic Refuge hits its peak it would only reduce our oil imports by 2%.

There are better ways to solve our country's energy problems than opening our last great wilderness areas to oil and gas development such as improved efficiency standards for cars, and expanding the use of clean renewable fuels made from our state's crops.

The American public consistently opposes proposals to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other actions that would harm our environment. I urge you to vote against efforts to open the Arctic Refuge and reject attempts to insert leasing revenues from the Arctic in the 2004 budget resolution. Please oppose any other anti-environmental provisions in the budget resolution.

Thank you for considering my views.

Sincerely,
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