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DEFENDING ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
December 21, 2005
"The levees will be paid for when we drill in ANWR." - Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, speaking to reporters about his plan -- a.k.a. blackmail -- to link Arctic Refuge drilling revenues to Hurricane relief and Gulf Coast preparedness. (San Francisco Chronicle, "New Twist to Arctic Drilling Deal," 12/19/2005)
(1) ARCTIC: Meet the New Grinch
(2) ARCTIC: Senator Stevens' Top Five Reasons to Keep Drilling in the Defense Bill
(3) TAKE ACTION: Stop Stevens' Outrageous Tactics! Keep Arctic Refuge Out of Defense Bill!
(4) SUPREME COURT: Sierra Club Opposes first Supreme Court Nomination since Bork
1. ARCTIC: Meet the New Grinch
In a desperate, last-ditch effort to force Congress to approve drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) -- the man who brought us the $450 million "Bridges to Nowhere" -- moved the controversial drilling provision to the Defense spending bill and linked drilling revenues to Hurricane Katrina relief. With a certain Grinch-like determination, Stevens is intent on ramming the initiative down America's throat before the holidays. This is a cynical, outrageous move that even offended Joe Scarborough, former congressman and conservative talk show host on MSNBC. On Friday night's "Scarborough Country," he railed: "It doesn't matter whether it's a Republican doing it or a Democrat doing it. To attach such a controversial bill, a bill I support -- I support drilling in Alaska -- but to attach this controversial...rider to funding our troops in Baghdad, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, across the world, it's unforgivable. Call your senator today, 202-224-3121, and tell them to fight this with all the energy they have."
Read "Arctic Drilling Has Been His Burning Issue" in the Los Angeles Times. https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h9f3,o7l,i6ff,govu,dazy,eylb Read "Alaska drilling's Senate crusader: Opening Refuge is his mission, but critics lambaste his tactics" in the San Francisco Chronicle. https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h9f3,o7l,lo1i,clkq,dazy,eylb
2. ARCTIC: Senator Stevens' Top Five Reasons to Keep Drilling in the Defense Bill
Senator Stevens has been straining to justify his move to attach an Arctic drilling provision to a seemingly unrelated Defense spending bill. The Senator might have more luck making his case if he thought more creatively about how exploiting the Arctic could make our nation more secure. Here are just some of the arguments he might consider:
1) Attaching lasers to migratory birds could create an impenetrable missile defense shield.
2) Enlisting caribou would help make up Army recruiting shortfalls.
3) Polar bears could be used to teach desert survival skills.
4) The legendary tracking skills of the Gwich'in people could help find missing weapons of mass destruction.
5) You can make Arctic drilling part of Halliburton's no- bid contract.
For more on "King" Stevens' monstrous tactics, check out our latest ad: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h9f3,o7l,ksyy,ckor,dazy,eylb
3. TAKE ACTION: Stop Stevens' Outrageous Tactics! Keep Arctic Refuge Out of Defense Bill!
The Senate is poised to vote on a Defense spending bill with Arctic Refuge drilling provisions as early as Wednesday -- tomorrow! The House passed the bill early Monday morning, and news accounts indicate that Vice President Cheney is cutting a trip to the Middle East short to be back in D.C. to break a possible tie vote. Calls to Senators are urgently needed TODAY.
Call your Senators at the Capitol Switchboard -- (202) 224- 3121 -- and ask them to do everything in their power to remove Arctic drilling from the Defense bill. Let them know that Senator Stevens' attempts to hold up defense spending is a betrayal of the public's trust, an abuse of power, and is an exploitation of our troops, hurricane victims and our natural heritage. If you don't know who your Senators are, you can find out easily at: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h9f3,o7l,8a23,1p0s,dazy,eylb
4. SUPREME COURT: Sierra Club Opposes first Supreme Court Nomination since Bork
In the first such move since the Bork nomination of 1987, the Sierra Club today joined with other national environmental groups to urge Senators to oppose the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. Our opposition to Judge Alito rests on his Constitutional philosophy as expressed in opinions that threaten both the ability of Congress to pass laws to protect the environment, and the ability of citizens to enforce those laws. Unfortunately, Judge Alito's opinions and other statements, combined with a disturbing lack of candor since being nominated, show that Judge Alito cannot be trusted to protect environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. The more one learns about his positions, the clearer it is that he's the wrong choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Court.
Read the Sierra Club's full statement at: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h9f3,o7l,geuh,52ko,dazy,eylb
"War and, apparently, hurricanes are very good for the oil business. But I've got to believe at a certain point, as a nation, we're going to go in a different direction toward an increased sense of personal responsibility, a lowering of each individual's carbon footprint and a real collaborative effort to help sustain our planet." - Stephen Gaghan, writer and director of the new George Clooney film "Syriana" about the oil industry and U.S.-Middle East relations.
(1) ARCTIC: Public Lands Belong in Public Hands
(2) POLITICS: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measure
(3) TAKE ACTION: Time to Stop Arctic Drilling and Mining Provisions in Their Tracks
(4) TAKE ACTION: Protect Communities from Harmful Mercury Pollution
1. ARCTIC: Public Lands Belong in Public Hands
The House-passed version of the federal budget reconciliation bill contains a backdoor maneuver by Congressman Richard Pombo to allow for the bargain basement sell-off of America's public lands to mining companies, developers and other special interests. This could affect millions of acres of public lands and would be a direct threat to all Americans who enjoy hiking, hunting and fishing in these special places. The Sierra Club recently teamed up with Izaak Walton League of America, ORION: The Hunter's Institute and other groups to run print ads in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming asking people to carry this message directly to their Senators.
See the ads here: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h1e8,o7l,2i2f,32o0,dazy,eylb
2. POLITICS: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures
>From the Senator who brought you the now-infamous Bridges to Nowhere comes another scam of monumental proportions. Senator Ted Stevens is hawking the proposal to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge based on wildly speculative revenue assumptions. Failing to get enough support on its merits, Stevens is making a last ditch effort by claiming Arctic drilling will bring billions into federal coffers -- doubling the projection to $10 billion. Not only is that number grossly inflated, it hides the fact that Stevens and the Alaska delegation have promised to fight -- even sue -- for the state to get 90 percent of drilling revenues. But Americans didn't want to buy his Bridges to Nowhere and they certainly don't want to give away the Arctic Refuge.
Read more about Arctic and the budget (.pdf): https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h1e8,o7l,ddhr,b2mg,dazy,eylb
3. TAKE ACTION: Time to Stop Arctic Drilling and Mining Provisions in Their Tracks
Could bad ideas like Arctic Refuge drilling and selling off public lands to mining companies and developers return this week? It is shaping up to be a crucial one for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the rest of America's public lands. The Senate and House are still trying to iron out differences between their two budget bills. The House-passed version includes controversial language to allow for the bargain basement sell- off of millions of acres of America's public lands to mining companies, developers and other special interests. The Senate-passed version includes a provision to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to destructive oil drilling. Both would have devastating impacts on America's most treasured wild places. There could be a vote on the final budget bill as early as this week.
Now is the time to contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to reject any budget that includes destructive mining provisions or language to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling. Call them at the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
4. TAKE ACTION: Protect Communities from Harmful Mercury Pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency's rule to regulate mercury emissions from power plants allows at least three times more mercury pollution from America's power plants than strong enforcement of our clean air laws and delays cleanup for more than a decade. Rather than enforce the Clean Air Act's directive to put strong controls on all toxic pollution from power plants, the rule removes them from the list of toxic pollutant sources.
Tell the EPA to reconsider its rule and adopt a stronger one that protects women and children from harmful mercury pollution: https://info.sierraclub.org/ct.html?rtr=on&s=arz,h1e8,o7l,djpv,6zq8,dazy,eylb
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