Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Bush administration and its allies in Congress are once again gunning for the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of America's last wild places. Now, drilling proponents want to attach Arctic drilling to the budget as a way of circumventing a full debate by drilling opponents. Including Arctic Refuge drilling language in the budget bill is nothing more than a backdoor political maneuver. Congress should not be making environmental and energy policy decisions of this magnitude through the budget process - it deserves a fair and full debate. No matter how many times the administration tries to advance this plan, the facts haven't changed: drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge would ruin one of America's last wild places for what the U.S. Geological Survey and oil company executives concede is only a few months' worth of oil, oil that would not be available for a decade. The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge supports some of America's most spectacular wildlife. Caribou, muskoxen, wolves, polar, brown and black bears, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds rely on the wilderness habitat that the Refuge provides. The Gwich'in people, Alaska natives who live near the Refuge, depend on the caribou. For 20,000 years, their culture and way of life have been intimately bound up with the Porcupine River caribou herd. Juxtaposed against these wilderness values is the chance of finding little or no oil. At current rates of consumption, there is at best 6 months worth of oil in the Refuge. An analysis by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund titled "False Profits: The Business Case Against Drilling in the Arctic Refuge," makes the case that there is NO economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of the Refuge. You can see the report here http://savethearctic.com/PDFs/arcticwhitepaper_2_4_02.pdf But proponents of drilling in the Arctic Refuge have a much broader agenda. Just last year, Rep. Tom DeLay (TX) told a group of high-ranking Republicans that the controversy over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a "symbolic" debate about whether or not oil and gas drilling should be allowed in pristine wild areas across the country. Call Congress today and urge them to oppose oil and gas drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Call 1-888-8-WILDAK (or 1-888-894-5325) to be automatically connected toll free to the member of Congress in your state who most needs to hear from you on this issue.