Monday, March 14, 2005

Arctic Refuge Vote Scheduled

The Senate convenes on Monday to begin consideration of the 2006 Budget which contains a vote on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I have read reports that the vote is scheduled for Wednesday, and others say Tuesday. We will get that info and keep you updated. Senators to target are Landrieu LA, Inouye HI, Akaka HI, Smith OR, Chafee RI, Snowe ME, Collins ME, McCain ME, Coleman MN, DeWine OH. DeWine was just said on Thursday that he wasn’t happy about “ANWR being shoved back in there.” I also read an article that ads were being run in areas of Florida, attempting to target Martinez. So this is definitely within reach.

Send Fax and Place Call Toll Free1-888-8-WILDAK (1-888-894-5325)

Two Days. Just Two Days to Say Two Things
Democrats have not lost our voice and Bush HAS NO MANDATE.America Demands Alternative, Renewable Energy


1. NATIONAL SECURITY
"You've got companies that have facilities 30 or 50 miles from ANWR. It seems like a natural extension" of their current North Slope activities, said Norton, who called getting at the refuge's oil "a national security issue."

AMERICANS SUPPORT alternative energy development.. Even in red state Montana, 62% of Montana seniors stated investing USB funds in renewable energy projects should be a priority.

OIL PRODUCTION could not begin until at least 2013.THE OIL does not have to be sold in the US.ANWR could produce 1 million barrels of oil per day, with a possible total of 8 billion barrels which the US consumes in less than a year.

The US USES 20 million barrels of oil per day, 44% for cars.

US CARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS account for 25% of the world’s oil. Raising CAFÉ standards to 40 MPG would save 3 million barrels of oil per day.

GLOBAL OIL demand is increasing as developing countries emerge.ANWR would have no impact on gas prices.

2. DRILLING AREA
Bush said oil exploration can be limited to a 2,000-acre site”

MAP OF 2000 ACRES TO SCALE (This is telling and needs to be posted EVERYWHERE)
THE ANWR.org web site, sponsored by the Arctic Power Lobby, states; “Only the 1.5 million acre or 8% on the northern coast of ANWR is being considered for development.”OPENING ANWR will likely lead to opening state land, and possibly some tribal land as well.

THE OIL is believed to be in many small pockets scattered across the Coastal Plain.

PIPELINES will be required to connect to the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System.

RIVERS AND STREAM BEDS, key habitat for fish and wildlife, will be stripped of millions of tons of gravel to be used to construct roads, airstrips, and drill pads.

MOST PEOPLE do not realize that between 300 and 400 oil industry related spills per year occur in Alaska, averaging 300 gallons per spill. Most spills are not reported in the media.

MANY CONSIDER the Alaska Pipeline itself is ripe for a major disaster, according to an article published in the Washington Post in November 2000. The pipeline is over 25 years old and the oil industry has not spent the money required for proper maintenance, according to whistleblowers.

3. HABITAT EFFECTS
WOULD BE FIRST Refuge opened to drilling since the 1960s.

SOME PICTURES of Muskoxen are not on the Coastal Plain, (a complaint I’ve seen on some right wing sites). The Coastal Plain is barren, frozen and dark.

RIPARIAN HABITAT frequently used by muskoxen are also likely to be used as sites for gravel and water extraction and winter road construction….” Muskoxen had become extinct across most of Alaska, 51 were introduced to the Coastal Plain in 1969 which has grown to the herd of approximately 400 today.

THE COASTAL PLAIN of the Arctic Refuge is America’s only on-shore denning site for polar bears.

THE PORCUPINE RIVER CARIBOU herd, numbering some 129,000 animals, migrates from south of the Brooks Range in the Arctic Refuge and Canada, to give birth to their young on the Coastal Plain.

130 SPECIES OF BIRDS nest and feed on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge, coming from as far away as Asia, Antarctica, and the Chesapeake Bay.

WHO VISITS The Refuge? Answer: Not Many (From the home page of the Arctic Power Lobby’s web site.) “Norton mailed the nation's network and cable news anchors a videotape – supplied by Arctic Power, a pro-drilling lobbying group in Alaska – showing the coastal plain in wintertime.” As if protecting wildlife and the environment only have value if people are going to visit.

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