April 4, 2005

Despite the U.S. Senate's recent vote to include Arctic drilling in its budget resolution, our fight to save the Arctic Refuge is far from over.

In the weeks to come, there will be many more opportunities for you to take action to stop this assault on America's greatest wildlife refuge.

In the meantime, the NRDC Action Fund is hard at work exploding many of the myths that the oil lobby and the Bush administration are trying to sell Congress and the American people. First and foremost is their claim that drilling in the Arctic Refuge would disturb only 2,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain.

Check out the map below to see for yourself why oil development could easily industrialize and despoil the entire expanse of this irreplaceable sanctuary for wildlife. Clicking on the map will take you to a larger map and a fuller explanation on the Action Fund website.

While you're at the website, you can help spread the word about this mortal threat to the Arctic Refuge by forwarding a message from Robert Redford to your friends, family and colleagues. We need to mobilize an army of concerned people for the fight ahead.

The Senate's approval of a budget resolution is just the first round in what promises to be a drawn-out battle. To complete its raid on the Arctic, both houses of Congress must now agree on both a budget resolution and a budget reconciliation bill -- something they have been unable to do in recent years due to controversies over deficit spending and other issues.

The NRDC Action Fund will be fighting at every step of the way to prevent passage of any final budget agreement that includes Arctic drilling. I know we can count on you to stand with us.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
NRDC Action Fund

To view a full size map and complete explanation, please click on the map below:
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticmap.asp

Wie deutsche Wissenschaftler herausgefunden haben wollen, fördert Computernutzung in den Schulen und Zuhause nicht die Leistung von Schülern in Mathematik sowie beim Lesen und Schreiben.

http://www.telepolis.de/tp/r4/artikel/19/19725/1.html

In Mexico's Upper Gulf of California, harmful fishing practices are driving the world's smallest porpoise, the vaquita marina, to the brink of extinction. To the south, on the coast of Chile's breathtaking Patagonia region, a proposed aluminum smelter threatens to contaminate one of the least polluted marine environments in the Americas and a possible breeding ground of the magnificent blue whale.

To ensure that these sensitive coastal habitat areas continue to thrive, NRDC has added them to our 2005 BioGems list. We are building public pressure on Ocean Garden, the Upper Gulf region's chief shrimp exporter, to help protect the vaquita by promoting truly sustainable fishing in the Upper Gulf. At the same time, we are demanding that the Canadian company Noranda help protect blue whales and other vulnerable wildlife by canceling plans to build an aluminum smelter in the Aysén region of Patagonia.

» Tell Ocean Garden not to purchase shrimp from the Upper Gulf until sustainable fishing practices are in place.
http://www.savebiogems.org/uppergulf/takeaction.asp

» Demand that Noranda abandon plans for the aluminum smelter on the Patagonia Coast.
http://www.savebiogems.org/patagonia/takeaction.asp

America's Arctic Refuge is in danger. This week, oil interests came one step closer to ruining the wild coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with sprawling oil development. In a backdoor scheme cooked up by drilling proponents, the U.S. Senate has included language in the Federal Budget that could remove protections prohibiting oil development in the biological heart of the Refuge. But the fight is far from over!

Make a statement today. Show your solidarity for America's Arctic Refuge with a visible symbol -- a green ribbon. Tie it in your yard, hang it on your home, pin it on your clothes or wear it around your wrist. Then pass it on. Give ribbons to your friends and family.

Millions of Americans feel strongly about this issue -- and together we will NOT be ignored. Show your support until Congress assures us that the Arctic Refuge is safe from oil drills.

Why This Will Work

Millions of Americans have made it plain that they want the Arctic Refuge protected and yet some members of Congress continue to ignore us. It's time to step up the pressure.

When your Members of Congress come home for recess they will see green ribbons on every street. Strangers who know nothing about the Arctic Refuge will ask about your ribbon and you'll tell them. Soon green ribbons will be tied in neighborhoods across the country, news media in every state will take notice, and Congress will not be able to ignore us.

We are counting on YOU to spread the word. Forward this message to your friends and family. Then buy a spool of ribbon and hand out ribbons to everyone you know -- at work, at church, and everywhere you go! It's easy!

Stand up for wildlife and America's wild places and tell oil interests that they have crossed the line. Don't sit quietly while our wild heritage is sold to Big Oil.

Political Update

The House passed its Budget measure last night, 218-214. It did not include any explicit language about Arctic oil drilling. But it does contain instructions to other committees that create a loophole for drilling language to be included. The extremely close nature of the vote offers hope to conservationists as responsibility for the budget moves to a House/Senate conference committee.

Both the Senate and the House have left for a two-week spring recess, returning to work April 4th .

During recess, congressional staff members will begin preparing for the Budget Conference Committee, a process that reconciles differences between the House and Senate Budget bills in order to present a single Budget for a final vote by both houses.

Arctic activists are planning events in several, targeted home districts. The political message during this time: Please vote against any conference report that would instruct committees to pass Arctic drilling as part of the Budget bill.

What You Can Do

Wear your green ribbons, and decorate freely with them. Make an appointment with your member of Congress and Senators and carry them the message that the Budget conference bill must not contain language that would open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.

Words to Inspire

"The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen."
- Sarah Brown


http://www.wilderness.org 1615 M St, NW Washington, DC 20036 1.800.THE.WILD action@tws.org

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/wd8ks5x4p7bnek6

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

If you're from Iowa:
Please call Rep. Nussle and tell him in no uncertain terms that he must make it clear in Budget instructions to other House committees that no Arctic drilling language will be permitted on the House Budget Reconciliation bill.
Phone: (202) 225-2911.

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.

Photo: Rainbow on the Arctic Coastal Plain. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Words to Inspire

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

- Rachel Carson



http://www.wilderness.org 1615 M St, NW Washington, DC 20036 1.800.THE.WILD action@tws.org

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