ENVIRONMENTAL WATCH: ANWR Back On Table

Environmentalist's take heed...

The US Senate will reconsider legislation to allow oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said.

"ANWR is a very important issue," Frist said. "Energy production in this country is very important. If ANWR had not been vetoed by President (Bill) Clinton in the mid-1990's, we'd have a million barrels more of oil coming in every day.

"Clearly, that is something that we will likely address" in the coming months, Frist said.
President George W. Bush's administration, along with Republicans in Congress, have long insisted that opening the 7.7-million-hectare (19-million-acre) wildlife refuge to exploration would help secure America's energy supply.

Environmentalists, however, strongly oppose opening the pristine refuge to exploration.
Past attempts in Congress to approve oil exploration in ANWR have failed, but legislative approval may now be within reach after the November 2 elections, which saw Republicans add four US Senate seats.

Also read:
On The ANWR Path
New Congress means oil drilling in Alaska refuge could be closer
Bush's vision: a new environment

Check out The Struggle Continues, on the Sierra Club website.
Also check out the Sierra Club's Take Action page.

No doubt John Kerry will continue to fight the GOP on this issue. We've still got your back, John, we'll be in this fight with you!