Senate approves drilling in the Arctic Refuge
As you may already know, our campaign to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge suffered a major setback in the U.S. Senate today.
The Senate is about to pass a budget resolution that calls for oil development in the refuge. An amendment that would have stripped the Arctic drilling provision from the budget bill was defeated by only two votes, 49-51.
This fight is far from over, however. To become law, the Senate budget bill must still be "reconciled" with the House budget bill -- something Congress has been unable to do the past few years. You can be sure that we will be battling at every opportunity -- and there will be several -- to remove Arctic drilling from any budget that actually winds up on President Bush's desk.
I am not going to soft-pedal today's defeat. It is distressing that pro-oil forces, significantly strengthened by last November's election, were able to pass this terrible bill in the Senate, where we've blocked them before. It is a sad day indeed when the White House and Senate leaders are able to bypass public hearings and debate by tying the fate of America's great wildlife refuge to the federal budget bill, where it does not belong.
I want you to know one thing: we fought our hardest to defend the Arctic Refuge in the U.S. Senate. Our legislative staff worked day and night to win over critical swing votes. They were aided by the more than 450,000 emails and faxes you sent to Congress. In the last few days, thousands of our supporters in 10 key states flooded their senators' offices with anti-drilling phone calls. And an outpouring of contributions enabled us to run hard-hitting advertising in the most critical states.
We gave it everything we had. But in today's vote we just could not overcome a White House that was shamelessly trumpeting the need to sacrifice the Arctic Refuge for the sake of America's energy security and national security -- an argument that is as erroneous as it is destructive to our natural heritage.
Congress must still pass two different budget measures to complete its assault on the refuge, and I can assure you that we will battle every step of the way as these bills play out over the months to come. That's why, in the wake of this most recent setback, I would urge you to convert your outrage and sorrow into action. We're going to need your redoubled commitment to our cause in the fight ahead. I know we can count on you.
Thank you for all you've done.
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
P.S. If you would like to learn how your own senators voted on this issue, copy and paste the entire link below into your web browser: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00052
The Senate is about to pass a budget resolution that calls for oil development in the refuge. An amendment that would have stripped the Arctic drilling provision from the budget bill was defeated by only two votes, 49-51.
This fight is far from over, however. To become law, the Senate budget bill must still be "reconciled" with the House budget bill -- something Congress has been unable to do the past few years. You can be sure that we will be battling at every opportunity -- and there will be several -- to remove Arctic drilling from any budget that actually winds up on President Bush's desk.
I am not going to soft-pedal today's defeat. It is distressing that pro-oil forces, significantly strengthened by last November's election, were able to pass this terrible bill in the Senate, where we've blocked them before. It is a sad day indeed when the White House and Senate leaders are able to bypass public hearings and debate by tying the fate of America's great wildlife refuge to the federal budget bill, where it does not belong.
I want you to know one thing: we fought our hardest to defend the Arctic Refuge in the U.S. Senate. Our legislative staff worked day and night to win over critical swing votes. They were aided by the more than 450,000 emails and faxes you sent to Congress. In the last few days, thousands of our supporters in 10 key states flooded their senators' offices with anti-drilling phone calls. And an outpouring of contributions enabled us to run hard-hitting advertising in the most critical states.
We gave it everything we had. But in today's vote we just could not overcome a White House that was shamelessly trumpeting the need to sacrifice the Arctic Refuge for the sake of America's energy security and national security -- an argument that is as erroneous as it is destructive to our natural heritage.
Congress must still pass two different budget measures to complete its assault on the refuge, and I can assure you that we will battle every step of the way as these bills play out over the months to come. That's why, in the wake of this most recent setback, I would urge you to convert your outrage and sorrow into action. We're going to need your redoubled commitment to our cause in the fight ahead. I know we can count on you.
Thank you for all you've done.
Sincerely,
John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council
P.S. If you would like to learn how your own senators voted on this issue, copy and paste the entire link below into your web browser: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00052
Starmail - 17. Mär, 17:55
