Don't sneak oil wells into our wildlife refuge

[SuzeQuze]

There's something really wrong with these people. :distress:

From TrueMajority.org

Early this morning, the House of Representatives voted to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil company drilling. The disappointing vote came after proponents of oil drilling tacked the provision onto a "must-pass" military bill, trampling on the legislative process.

This is not the way things should be. Important issues need to be addressed directly, not tucked into legislation that limits congressional discussion—and the public’s ability to affect policy.

We can still stop oil companies from having access to one of our country’s greatest environmental treasures. Tell your senators to stop the parliamentary tricks and oppose any legislation that allows oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/stopthedrilling

By including the oil drilling provision in a major military bill that included Hurricane Katrina relief, heating assistance aid and anti-torture legislation, House Republicans have managed to subvert the public’s will and "give an early huge Christmas gift to the oil companies of the United States," said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts.1

Take action today and tell your senators to stop the legislative tricks and ensure that NO provision for drilling in the Arctic Refuge comes out of the Senate. To send your message to your senators, click "Reply" and "Send." If you’d like to edit the letter to your senators or were forwarded this message, visit the following site to take action:

http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/stopthedrilling

Together, we can ensure that the legislative process allows for full congressional debate and in the process can keep the sanctity of the Arctic Refuge intact.

Thanks for all that you do,

Dusty Haselton
TrueMajority

1 "House Backs Arctic Drilling at End of Marathon Session," New York Times, 12/19/05.

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Here's the message we'll send to your Senators:

Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling is not the answer to America's energy crisis. It will not bring down the price of gas or make us any less reliant on imported oil. We need Congress to stand up for the rights of American consumers, not the oil companies.

America needs a sane energy policy, not more oil company giveaways.

Please vote against ANY legislation that allows oil companies access to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

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[amber]

Thanks. Christ, that should be illegal. How dastardly.

[SuzeQuze]

Thanks. Christ, that should be illegal. How dastardly.

Yes, evil, it really makes me ill.

[DavidMn]

Pork anyone?:mad:

[macfanken]

Hey Suze..

this is disgusting... luckily, we have a great senator here in Washington state who is trying to stop it. She definitely gets my vote in 2006.

__________________________________________________

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Cantwell vows filibuster over ANWR drilling

By CHARLES POPE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Maria Cantwell vowed Monday to keep the Senate in session until the brink of Christmas to defeat legislation that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

"If this language is allowed to stand, one of our nation's most pristine wildlife areas will be lost," Cantwell, a Democrat said as she outlined plans by her party and its allies to defeat language offered by Alaska Republican Ted Stevens to open ANWR.

"This is nothing more than a sweetheart deal for Alaska and the oil companies," Cantwell said. "That's why I am prepared to use every procedural option available to me as a senator to prevent this language from moving forward."

The showdown is likely to come on Wednesday when the Senate is expected to vote to force an end to debate. Sixty votes are needed to break a filibuster that Cantwell has promised. Neither side would say whether it had the votes to prevail.

Alaska Republican Ted Stevens triggered the tempest by getting permission to add the ANWR language onto a $453 billion defense-spending bill. Stevens, who has been fighting to open the refuge for 25 years, argued that provision meshes with the bill because the military is the nation's largest consumer of oil.

The last-minute change came as lawmakers were struggling to finish business and head home for the holidays. Lobbyists and lawmakers said Stevens could exert maximum pressure by exploiting the desire to finish before Christmas and by attaching the drilling measure to a must-pass bill that lawmakers are loath to oppose. They fear they could be accused of being soft on defense or not supporting troops in a time of war -- the bill provides a 3.1 percent pay increase to the military, as well as financing the war in Iraq.

Senators on both sides of the issue were consumed Monday by ANWR, as they spent the day trading accusations and trying to count votes.

Democrats, led by Cantwell, accused Stevens of making a "fraudulent" end run around Senate procedures by forcing lawmakers to accept a controversial policy they have repeatedly rejected in the past.

Stevens rejected those accusations. "We're not changing the rules at all," he said from the Senate floor. "I've been around here for 37 years. I know the rules. ... I'm just doing my utmost to do my job, which is getting ANWR passed," he said.



Cantwell said she's willing to challenge Stevens, who is widely regarded as one of the fiercest fighters in the chamber.

"Sen. Stevens says he's not holding up the process, but he is," Cantwell. "He knows very well that we could all go home today. We could pass these outstanding pieces of legislation regarding defense and other things and be gone. But he wants to stay here. If he wants to stay here, then we'll stay here to fight."

The battleground is a 1.5 million-acre piece of land in Alaska's far northern reach that has been off limits to development for 25 years. The Interior Department estimates 10.4 billion barrels of oil lie beneath ANWR. Critics dispute that estimate, claiming most of the oil included in that projection is not recoverable.

Stevens said ANWR is crucial to cutting the country's dependence on foreign oil, a position that President Bush has embraced as well.

The House approved its defense spending bill with ANWR language early Monday. If it passes the Senate, the bill would go to President Bush who would quickly sign it into law.

Linking ANWR to the defense bill created a painful choice for lawmakers. Some, such as Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., who oppose drilling nonetheless voted for the bill after deciding they did not want to delay funding for troops while a war was ongoing. Advocates of drilling say they expect the same force to persuade some senators who have opposed drilling to vote for the measure this time.

"We must support our troops. I will always put our troops first. Always," Reichert said in a statement.

Even so, he urged the Republican leadership to "remove language from this bill that allowed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," arguing that it was improper to include such a significant environmental question on a defense bill.

That same point was raised by Senate critics, who hope to win a parliamentary ruling Tuesday that will sever the ANWR language from the defense bill because it is not germane.

"In the 21 years that I've been here, I've seen the Senate occasionally try to break rules but never ... as egregiously as this," Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said at a news conference in which he joined Cantwell and three other Democrats.

[SuzeQuze]

Kerry is actively working to stop this, below is a note from MoveOn regarding sending a short note to your local newspaper's editor. Please consider doing this if you can:

Dear MoveOn member,
After Congress stripped controversial Arctic oil drilling provisions from the budget, pro-drilling advocate Senator Stevens just couldn't accept defeat. Now, he is trying to pass it by attaching it to defense funding. A vote is likely in the next 48 hours.

This is a dirty, last-ditch effort by some Republicans to sneak Arctic drilling through Congress. They are even willing to hold up funding for our troops to do it.

Sen. Kerry is leading a major fight to stop the defense bill as long as it includes unrelated drilling provisions. Can you write a short letter to the editor of your local paper supporting Sen. Kerry? Our tool makes it easy.

http://political.moveon.org/lte/lte_t.html?zip=02109<e_campaign_id=37&id=6567-5735729-8aw16NMSHDKsk766rcdWwg&t=2

If you write a short note today, it could be published tomorrow. When the Senate goes to vote, we need senators who fight on the right side to know we have their backs. In addition to Sen. Kerry seeing the published letters in the paper, we'll send him a copy so he will see your letter no matter what.

It's particularly underhanded to put something like Arctic drilling in the defense bill that funds our troops. Even top military leaders are angered by this move. A group of top generals, including former Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, sent a letter to Senat Republican Leader Bill Frist criticizing these backdoor tactics.1

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would ruin millions of acres of pristine land and threaten polar bears and other wildlife. It won't solve our energy crisis, or save us money at the pump, but it will be another Republican giveaway of our natural resources to big oil companies that are already racking up record profits.

When our leaders in Congress stand up and fight for what's important we have to get their backs. Can you write a quick letter today?

http://political.moveon.org/lte/lte_t.html?zip=02109<e_campaign_id=37&id=6567-5735729-8aw16NMSHDKsk766rcdWwg&t=3

Thanks for all you do,

–Eli, Nita, Rosalyn, Adam and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005

Sources:

1. "Leaders in Congress OK Cuts to Budget," Los Angeles Times, December 19, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1284

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