Gwich'in Nation Asks for your Help!

THE ILL-ADVISED ENERGY BILL IS UP AGAIN IN THE HOUSE – CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY AND ASK THEM TO STRIKE ARCTIC DRILLING FROM THE ENERGY BILL!

 

April 18, 2005

 

Dear Friends,

 

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge continues to be the topic of conversation around the halls of Congress.  The last few weeks the Arctic Refuge has been discussed in the context of the budget bill and while it is still very important to let our elected officials know that we do not want Arctic drilling included in the final budget; this week we have a slightly more urgent issue to take action on – the House’s ill-advised energy bill.

 

Once again proponents of drilling in the House of Representatives are poised to include provisions to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling in their energy bill.  In order to keep this misguided energy plan from going forward, Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) will offer an amendment to strike Arctic drilling from the energy bill.  Last Wednesday, April 13, the House Resources Committee voted down a similar amendment offered by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA) to remove the Arctic drilling provision out of the energy bill, but now your Representative will have the opportunity to vote for this amendment and prevent drilling in the Arctic Refuge. 

 

TO TAKE ACTION NOW:

1. Email your members -- Click here to send a message to your Representative urging them to support the Markey / Johnson amendment to strike the Arctic drilling provision from the energy bill.   

 

2. Call your members – Click here to share this message with your Representative via the telephone.

 

3. Be an Organizer – Ask your family and friends to email and call their Representatives too!  The more emails and calls we can generate the more likely we are to win this battle and protect The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.

 

 

More Information:

 

The simple fact is that drilling in the Arctic Refuge will not do anything to boost national energy security.  The United States consumes 25% of the world’s oil, yet we only own 3% of the proven oil reserves.  We could drill in every wild pristine place in the country and still be heavily dependent on imported oil.  By 2025, the US is projected to be importing 70% of our oil.  According to the government’s own Energy Information Administration, even if we allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge and ruin the area permanently, oil from the Arctic Refuge is projected to offset our imports by only 4%, leaving us still importing a whopping 66% of our oil. 

 

The price just isn’t worth it, especially when you consider that merely increasing our fuel efficiency by several miles per gallon would save us far more oil, and sooner, than drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. 

 

Drilling in America’s Arctic Refuge isn’t about national security, it isn’t about jobs, it isn’t about lowering gas prices, and it isn’t about reducing dependence on foreign oil.  Take it from Tom DeLay (R-TX) who says that “it’s all about the precedent”.  Drilling in America’s Arctic is just the first step to being able to drill in all pristine places around the country, whether in the Rocky Mountain Front or off-shore from Florida, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the doorway to all of them.

 

We need to tell our Representatives that drilling in America’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just doesn’t make sense for us now or in the future and that they should support the Markey / Johnson amendment to strike the Arctic drilling provision.  We live in the 21^st century and our elected leaders need to stop pushing 20^th century ideas.  We simply cannot drill our way to energy independence.

 

Take a moment and let your Representative know how you feel about this issue.

Click here to email your Representative

 

Click here to call your Representative

 

 

Mahsi Choo!

 

Gwich'in Steering Committee

122 First Avenue, Box 2

Fairbanks, AK 99701

907-458-8264

www.alaska.net/~gwichin