---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:25:36 -0500 (EST) From: WWF Conservation Action Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: The Arctic Refuge Needs You SEND ACTION~a28891u30516
Action deadline: December 19, 2005 Dear Alan, The colossal battle over whether to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has reached fever pitch in Congress. Now is your chance to save this irreplaceable ecosystem. Proponents of drilling are trying desperately to round up enough support during the next few days to authorize Arctic Refuge drilling in a budget reconciliation bill. Currently, the Senate version of the bill authorizes drilling, but the House version does not. A conference committee of members from both chambers will resolve the differences between the two bills. CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE Call via the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and make the main points from the letter below. If you've called before, please call again. If you don't have time to call, please follow the steps below to send a letter. SEND A LETTER * Quick Option: If you only have a minute, send the message below, as is, by simply replying to this email. (This option works only if you received this email directly from the Conservation Action Network.) * Powerful Option: Personalize your letter. Go to the address below and follow the instructions for adding your own thoughts to your message. Decision makers pay much more attention to personalized messages. http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ctt.asp?u=30516&l=113091 If you have any questions or problems with taking action, contact us for help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] A few minutes of your time can make a huge difference for the caribou, polar bears, musk ox, wolves, and countless other species that depend on the Arctic Refuge. Thank you! Sincerely, Randy Snodgrass Director, Government Relations World Wildlife Fund Washington, DC ****************************LETTER TEXT****************************** Dear (Your senators' and representative's names will be inserted here): I urge you to oppose including Arctic Refuge drilling provisions in the budget reconciliation conference report and to vote against passage of the conference report if it does include Arctic Refuge drilling. Opening up the refuge to oil and gas development would be one of the biggest and most short-sighted environmental mistakes our country could make. The relatively small amount of oil likely to be found within the refuge doesn't justify the damage that would be done to this special place. Moreover, allowing oil drilling in the refuge would set a dangerous precedent for the way our country treats our natural treasures. There are other, sustainable ways to obtain and use the energy that our country needs. Please do all you can to protect this national treasure. Sincerely, (Your name and address will be inserted here) ***********************END OF LETTER TEXT********************* LEARN MORE For years, oil companies have been heavily lobbying to open the coastal plain -- the biological heart of the wildlife refuge -- to oil drilling. Such development would transform this sanctuary into a spider web of roads, pipelines, sewage plants, drilling pads, and housing for thousands of workers that would destroy the wilderness character of the land and limit the free movement of wildlife. On August 8, 2005, President Bush signed into law a national energy bill that did not authorize drilling in the Arctic Refuge. Some members of Congress then turned to the budget process as a backdoor way to allow energy development in the refuge. The groundwork for using the budget process to authorize oil drilling in the refuge was laid in the spring of 2005 when Congress passed a budget resolution that called for generating $2.4 billion in new revenues. That gave proponents of drilling in the refuge the opening to propose energy development there as the way to generate the new money (i.e. by leasing public land to oil companies). In early November, the Senate approved, 52-47, a budget reconciliation bill that would authorize drilling in the refuge. An amendment offered by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to strike the Arctic Refuge drilling provisions from the bill failed, 48-51. The House budget reconciliation bill passed without Arctic Refuge drilling, thanks in large part to the opposition of 29 moderate Republicans. _____________________________________________________________________ You received this message because [EMAIL PROTECTED] is an activist with the World Wildlife Fund Conservation Action Network. _____________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] from [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word REMOVE in the subject line or you can unsubscribe at http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/unsubscribe/index.asp. _____________________________________________________________________ Direct any questions about the WWF Conservation Action Network to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________________ The Conservation Action Network is sponsored by World Wildlife Fund-US. Known worldwide by its panda logo, WWF is dedicated to protecting the world's wildlife and the rich biological diversity that we all need to survive. The leading privately supported international conservation organization in the world, WWF has sponsored more than 2,000 projects in 116 countries and has more than 1 million members in the United States. WWF calls on everyone -- government, industry, and individuals -- to take responsibility by taking action to save our living planet. World Wildlife Fund 1250 Twenty-fourth Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 http://www.worldwildlife.org http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org
