Fox Valley Sierra Group ANWR Under Attack

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Before oil and gas companies claimed the core of Alaska's North Slope wilderness, President Eisenhower set aside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a lone haven for vast herds of caribou, polar bears, Arctic wolves, and millions of migratory birds. But the Bush administration wants to hand over this last pristine fragment of Alaska's arctic to its friends in the oil and gas industry. If the president and his allies succeed, the refuge would soon be converted into an industrial complex of roads, drill pads, pipelines, production facilities, ports, and gravel mines. Crucial wildlife habitat would be forever destroyed -- for what's likely to be a mere six-month supply of oil. We could save 15 times more oil than the refuge is likely to produce just by raising the average gas mileage of U.S. vehicles to 40 mpg by the year 2012.

Arctic drilling proponents in the Senate know that any efforts to open the refuge to drilling would fail under normal Senate filibuster procedures. But budget bills cannot be filibustered, so pro-drilling senators have sneaked a provision into the 2004 budget plan that would mandate opening the Arctic Refuge to drilling by assuming future revenue from oil and gas leases there. Senators opposed to drilling will offer an amendment to remove the drilling revenue provision when the issue moves to the Senate floor next week, but the amendment will require 51 votes to win. The November 2002 elections rendered the vote count on this issue just about even, making the upcoming vote one of the most critical of the year.

Please see Alan's ANWR speech made 07/15/05

Map | Home | Mail Rev: 08/08/05