Grassroots Email Express

January 10, 2005                                                                                                         

Volume 3  No. 1

Defending the Arctic Refuge

THE ISSUE:  

The polling places had hardly closed on Nov. 2 before the Bush Administration began crowing of an alleged mandate to drill in the Arctic. 

This is truly counting their chickens before they hatch!  Recognizing the broad opposition to drilling in this pristine area and without the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster on a normal bill, they plan to rev up this year’s attack on the Arctic by slipping Arctic drilling revenues into the Federal Budget resolution (which can’t be filibustered) early in 2005. 

Polls have consistently shown steady opposition to ruining the wildness of the fragile coastal plain for a dubious, very limited, difficult to exploit amount of oil.  Senate leaders, fully recognize the broad opposition to drilling in this pristine corner of northeast Alaska.   And we have a good chance to stop them—as we have always stopped them before!  We need to expose the dishonesty of sneaking the Arctic into the budget.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: 

Thank Senators Snowe and Collins for their past support in protecting the Refuge from drilling during the past and ask them to stand firm on opposing drilling in the Arctic Refuge.  Ask them to keep Arctic drilling out of the 2005 Budget Resolutions.

Send letters to Editor, to local and statewide newspapers, opposing Arctic drilling and opposing including it in the budget.

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For more information:

Joan Saxe – Joan.Saxe@sierraclub.org

Jack Bisco - boscoe36@msn.com