ARCTIC REFUGE - NEW ATTACK!

Please urge Maine's Delegation to vote against any attempts this year to open the refuge to oil drilling.

Congress is again attempting to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, once again by introducting a resolution into the budget reconciliation process. Clearly, proponents of drilling in the refuge are not giving up. We can't either.

Some places should be off-limits to oil drilling, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of them.

Crews are still cleaning up the largest oil spill in the history of Alaska's North Slope. The crude oil spill of approximately 267,000 gallons occurred earlier this month just west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at Prudhoe Bay. Right now, cleanup crews are battling frigid (70 below with wind chill) temperatures and hope to collect, at best, about 90 percent of the spilled crude.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, pro-drilling advocates in the Senate narrowly eked out a win on a sneaky budget resolution that was specially crafted to allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (But the fight's not over - the Senate will have to cast at least two more votes on the budget bill this year.) Next the House of Representatives must decide whether or not to include Arctic drilling in its version of the budget resolution later this month. It is absolutely imperative we keep the pressure on Congress.

You Can Help

Urge Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to safeguard the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by voting against any future budget bill that allows drilling there.

Senator Snowe: (202) 224-5344 or (800) 432-1599

To send an email, use the Senator's web form.

 

Senator Collins: (202) 224-2523

To send an email, use the Senator's web form.

 

Representative Allen: (202) 225-6116 or fax: (202) 225-5590

rep.tomallen@mail.house.gov

 

Representative Michaud: (202) 225-6306 or fax (202) 225-2943
rep.mikemichaud@mail.house.gov

 

Last year, drilling boosters in Congress tried tricks and back-door maneuvers at every turn, but were stopped by citizens like you and bipartisan leadership in Congress. Maine's delegation will need to hear from you if they are to stand strong and vote against drilling this time around.

Background

Drilling in the refuge—which requires a sprawling matrix of roads, pipelines, drilling pads, processing plants, gravel mines, and airports—is a major threat to critical habitat and wildlife such as polar bears, caribou, snow geese, wolves, and millions of migratory birds. Already, 95 percent of the Alaskan North Slope on which the refuge is sited is open to drilling. Its 110-mile coastal plain, the center of wildlife activity within the refuge, represents the last remnant of the North Slope closed to development. More about Birds & Oil Development in the Arctic (PDF)

Although President Bush said in January that America is “addicted to oil,” his administration has long made energy exploration in the refuge a priority, despite U.S. Energy Department figures that show drilling won’t change gas prices by more that about a penny a gallon, 20 years from now. Energy experts agree that the best ways to reduce our dependence on foreign oil are to make cars go further on a gallon of gas and invest in clean, renewable forms of energy.

Oil and wildlife simply don't mix.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is an outstanding wilderness ecosystem with a full complement of Arctic and subarctic birdlife. Millions of migratory birds migrate through and overwinter in the refuge's coastal plain. Their migrations take them to backyards, birdfeeders, parks and refuges all across the U.S., including Maine, and to six continents.

Although proponents of oil drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge claim that drilling there would be "environmentally sensitive," the record on Kenai National Wildlife Refuge shows otherwise. The horrifying extent of the damage and the full environmental cost of oil and gas drilling in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is just beginning to be revealed.

Even as pro-drilling senators sneak drilling in the arctic back into the budget, crews are still cleaning up what was just announced to be the largest oil spill in the history of Alaska's North Slope. The crude oil spill of approximately 267,000 gallons occurred a couple of weeks ago just west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at Prudhoe Bay. Right now, cleanup crews are battling frigid (70 below with wind chill) temperatures and hope to collect, at best, about 90 percent of the spilled crude.

Some places should be off-limits to oil drilling, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of them. It is unconscionable to even consider putting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge at risk.

Spills of oil and other toxic substances occur wherever drilling takes place, and Alaska’s North Slope experiences several hundred spills every year. Oil need not reach the environment in large amounts to be disastrous.

Not only can we expect degradation and loss of important bird habitats, human activities including the operation of airfields and helicopter traffic will disturb normal feeding and resting time needed for some species to make successful migrations.

Increased predation by foxes, bears, ravens and gulls that are attracted to oilfields, will likely reduce nesting success for waterfowl.

In addition, the Department of the Interior estimates that caribou populations would decline by 20-40 percent; musk oxen populations would decline by 25-50 percent; and wolverine populations by 50 percent.

Habitat destruction, disturbances associated with industrial development, and spills of oil and toxics will harm a variety of birds including tundra swans, loons and snow geese.

In addition to the death toll, birds and wildlife could be stricken with deformities, tumors and diseases.

Last Update: 3/21/2006