Arctic Refuge Drilling

The Senate has just voted 51-49 against the Cantwell amendment to keep Arctic Refuge drilling from the Senate Budget Resolution. Click the link below to view a list of how senators voted.
http://ga1.org/wilderness/arcticsenatevote.html

This battle is far from over. The conservation community still has several opportunities to work with members of both parties in the House and Senate to keep Arctic drilling out of the final budget.

The close vote reflects in part the groundswell of activism the Congress has experienced over this issue. "The phones were ringing almost continuously when we were visiting congressional offices this week and last," remarked Jim Waltman, Program Director for The Wilderness Society. "It was very uplifting to know that many of those calls were from the WildAlert community."

Our immediate efforts now turn back to the House, which is expected to vote on its Budget Resolution in the next few days.

"Chairman Nussle, the Chair of the House Budget Committee, has indicated that policy matters like Arctic Refuge drilling do not belong in the Budget," Waltman pointed out. "But the Budget Committee's reconciliation instructions have a loophole that could allow drilling boosters to add Arctic drilling to reconciliation legislation."

What You Can Do:

Click here to urge your representative to contact Rep. Nussle and ask him to keep Arctic language out of the House Budget Reconciliation.

http://ga1.org/campaign/BudgLanguage/i8kxgxk4q7bnek6

After you do that, please call your senators and express your thanks or outrage on how they voted. Click the link below to view a list of Senators and how they voted.
http://ga1.org/wilderness/arcticsenatevote.html

The Tally

This vote was mostly along party lines, with these Democrats voting against the Cantwell amendment: Hawaiian Senators Akaka and Inouye, Sen. Landrieu of Louisiana.

Republicans who rebuffed party pressure and voted for the Cantwell amendment were:  Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine; Norm Coleman of Minnesota; John McCain of Arizona, Gordon Smith of Oregon; Mike Dewine, Ohio and Sen. Chaffee, Rhode Island.

Please call your Senators and express your thanks or outrage. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.

Thank you!

We know that we have been asking a great deal of you in recent weeks. What is much more remarkable is all that you've been willing to give.  The WildAlert community has generated nearly 175,000 messages to Congress - and an untold number of phone calls - on behalf of Arctic Refuge protection.

We're counting on you to continue your powerful brand of activism. The broad and diverse coalition of Americans working to protect the Arctic Refuge will fight every step of the way to keep Arctic drilling out of the budget. The battle for the Arctic Refuge has just begun.

Sample Letter to the House

If you'd like to send your own message to the House, use our contact directory at http://ga1.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=wilderness&preview_p=1

A sample letter is below.

Dear Representative,

Now that the Senate has failed to prohibit Arctic Refuge oil drilling in the Budget, it's essential that the House act to protect the Arctic. Budget Chair Nussle can do that.

Will you please contact Mr. Nussle and ask him to give explicit
instructions to the Resources Committee to keep the Budget Reconciliation free of Arctic Refuge oil drilling language?

Drilling in the Refuge won't solve our energy problems. It is not worth damaging America's greatest national wildlife refuge for what the U.S.  Geological Survey says would be far less oil than the U.S. consumes in a single year.

There are some places that should be off-limits to oil drilling and industrial development, and the Arctic Refuge is one of them. The harm to wildlife habitat for polar bear, caribou, and millions of migratory birds would be permanent and irreparable.

We have a moral responsibility to save wild places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for future generations. That's why our country has remained committed to its protection for nearly 50 years.