The bastards in Washington are up to their shenanigans again!!!!
PLEASE call your Senators or go to
this page to send an e-mail to them.
Dear NRDC Action Fund Supporter,
Last week, the Senate Budget Committee caved in to Big Oil and passed a budget
resolution that includes a provision designed exclusively to allow drilling in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The entire Senate will vote on this resolution as early as Thursday! Last
December, we blocked Arctic drilling by generating tens of thousands of phone
calls to Capitol Hill. It\'s time to do it again!
Please call your Senators right now:
Senator Christopher Dodd: (202) 224-2823
Senator Joseph Lieberman: (202) 224-4041
Tell them to:
"Vote NO on the budget because it\'s bad for the Arctic Refuge, bad for the
environment, and bad for the American people. Vote YES on any amendment to
strip Arctic drilling from this budget bill."
Please reply to this email to let us know that you called. Your phone call will
have the biggest impact, but if you are unable to call, then please send
electronic messages to your Senators by going to
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arctic/action.asp?step=2&item=53391 right now.
Senate leaders are using this budget ploy to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling
because they know they can\'t pass it through the legitimate legislative
process. They aren\'t even pretending that their budget resolution is about
balancing the budget. In fact, their resolution contains only one
reconciliation instruction: the provision that would open the Arctic Refuge to
drilling.
Please call your Senators today. Let\'s stop this abuse of the budget process
and stand up for America\'s Arctic Refuge in its hour of greatest need!
Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
NRDC Action Fund
No senator will ever read these. It will be some intern who is working long hours for no pay in hopes of starting a political career. All that matters is that there are people voicing there concern that way the low life intern who has to count these messages or write up a "gist" report for an assistant to give the senator will know people are concerned.
****, senators don\'t even read bills that they vote on in congress.
America trying to save its collective ass as Iran threatens to cut off their oil and switch to Euros.
The oil that can be generated out of this part of Alaska will not only take about ten years to get to, but will only last about 20 more AND will only contribute about 1-2% of the supply per year of what America uses!!!!!
Is it worth destroying one of the last pristine wildernesses in America?
?
no, the senators would not read these, but I heard over and over that the interns who do read them sort them differently. hand written letters get higher status than form letters, so it\'s still worth it to write a letter directly instead of just slapping your email address into a form.
Good point FZappa, a hand written letter will definitely be judged with more wait.
Reply from Senator Lieberman:
March 14, 2006
Dear Mr. Anderson:
Thank you for contacting me to express your concern about legislative
efforts to drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil and gas. I fully share your concern.
On November 2, 2005, I led opposition to a provision in the Senate budget
reconciliation bill that would open up ANWR for oil drilling. After that
attempt to open ANWR for drilling failed in the House, oil drilling
proponents tried to attach a similar amendment to the fiscal year (FY)
2006 Defense Appropriations bill. (Among other things, this bill would
provide funding for relief from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, as
well as funds for our brave men and women in uniform.) I was pleased by
the Senate\'s rejection of this latest effort to attach this drilling
provision to the unrelated Defense Appropriations conference report. On
December 21, 2005, cloture on the bill failed by a vote of 44 to 56; and
60 votes are needed to end debate on the measure. The rest of the Defense
Appropriations bill will now go forward without the ANWR drilling
provision.
I have been a leading opponent in the Senate of opening up ANWR for oil
exploration since my first campaign for the United States Senate in 1987.
I have continued to vigorously oppose every attempt by drilling supporters
to open up ANWR since then, including leading a successful filibuster of
drilling legislation in 2002. The effects of oil wells, pipelines, roads,
airports, housing, processing plants, gravel mines, air pollution,
industrial noise, seismic exploration, and exploratory drilling in this
fragile Arctic wilderness area would radiate across the entire coastal
plain of the Arctic Refuge.
It simply does not make sense to destroy the Arctic Refuge for oil that
will not lower prices to our consumers or give us true energy security.
The mark of greatness in a generation lies not in just what it builds for
itself, but also in what it preserves for the generations to come.
Drilling in the Arctic for some short-term convenience in our time will
shortchange the legacy we should instead be building for the future of our
children. Also, drilling for oil in ANWR perpetuates a dangerous myth
that we can simply drill our way out of dependence on foreign oil when
that is not the case.
Established by President Eisenhower in 1960, ANWR plays host to a diverse
and fragile ecosystem; and the area serves as a critical habitat for a
number of species. ANWR=s coastal plain is home to the most wild,
pristine arctic coastal ecosystem in the United States. It is the place
where the calves of the awe-inspiring Porcupine caribou herd (which
numbers about 150,000) are born every year, where snow geese feed in the
fall, where many female polar bears choose to den, and where red-throated
loons, American golden-plovers, semipalmated sandpiper, and many other
important migratory birds flock to in great numbers each summer. In the
fall, they return southward to and through the State of Connecticut, among
other places. Through efforts to dedicate ANWR=s coastal plain as
wilderness, we can help ensure that this ancient natural rite continues
into the 21st Century. This region is also the center of culture and the
subsistence lifestyle of the Native American Gwich\'ins in Northeast Alaska
and Canada.
This past summer we debated and passed wide-ranging energy legislation.
Drilling in the Arctic Refuge was not even brought up in that 1,000-page
bill that we were told represented comprehensive energy policy. The fact
that the Senate spent no time whatsoever debating drilling in the Arctic
Refuge as part of energy legislation, but now deals with it in budget
legislation, indicates to me that drilling proponents do not have the
votes needed to authorize this drilling if this proposal came to the
Senate in a proper debate in the proper context. Instead, they are using
various devices to attempt to attempt to bypass Senate rules.
The Energy Information Agency tells us that peak production in the Arctic
Refuge will be fewer than one million barrels per day, and that peak will
not be reached until 2025 at the earliest. At that point, if we continue
our current oil consumption trends, the Refuge will be contributing no
more than four percent of U.S. oil consumption. Meanwhile, 70 percent of
our oil needs will be met by imports, with our national security and
economy remaining every bit as vulnerable to the economic dynamics and
geopolitics of the global oil market as it is today.
America\'s dependence on foreign oil is an urgent and stubborn problem.
However, rather than despoil the Arctic Refuge, one of our last great wild
places, for a six-month supply of oil ten years from now, we must instead
move beyond our dependence on oil. If we want to break this dependence
and truly remain strong and invulnerable to pressure from nations that are
weaker than we but have oil within their land, we have to use something
other than petroleum. Instead, we must develop new, renewable sources of
energy, while conserving the valuable resources we have. To this end, I
have consistently supported increases in fuel efficiency standards, as
well as tax incentives and other measures designed to encourage the
transition of our motor vehicle fleet to more efficient, cleaner, and
alternative powered automobiles.
If we are to be serious about facing up to the reality of our energy
security challenge, we must recommit ourselves to changing the trend of
ever-rising oil consumption. Along with nine other Senators, I introduced
bipartisan legislation (the Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security
Act; S. 2025), which is aimed at lowering our national dependence on oil
by reinventing our transportation system from the refinery to the tailpipe
through the use of hybrid vehicles and homegrown biofuels and electricity
to power our vehicles. For more information on this initiative, please
visit http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=248870.
Destroying perhaps one of the greatest wilderness areas in the United
States under the guise of energy security and federal revenue raising is
unacceptable when you consider all that is at stake in this important
debate. Please be assured that I will continue to fight for the
protection of this unique tundra area that has been called "America\'s
Serengeti" from the ravages of oil and gas exploration and drilling and
instead to deed this region to future generations unmarred. I remain
committed to supporting smart, forward-looking strategies to wean our
economy off its addiction to foreign oil without sacrificing our natural
treasures. You can access my complete remarks in opposition to the ANWR
drilling provision to the Defense spending bill at
http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=250007.
My official Senate web site is designed to be an on-line office that
provides access to constituent services, Connecticut-specific information,
and an abundance of information about what I am working on in the Senate
on behalf of Connecticut and the nation. I am also pleased to let you
know that I have launched an email news update service through my web
site. You can sign up for that service by visiting
http://lieberman.senate.gov and clicking on the "Subscribe Email News
Updates" button at the bottom of the home page. I hope these are
informative and useful.
Thank you again for letting me know your views and concerns. Please
contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work
in Congress.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
liebermen doesnt need support in this case, hes already so opposed to the idea..
Lieberman Fights to Keep Arctic Drilling Out of Bush’s FY07 Budget
Coalition of senators oppose any measure to circumvent legislative process by attaching Arctic drilling to must-pass budget bill
WASHINGTON – In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) AND 18 Senate colleagues expressed deep opposition to any move to authorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge through the budget process.
“By using a budget resolution to open the Arctic Refuge wilderness to oil drilling, the Budget Committee mocks both Americans’ bedrock environmental values and the Senate’s fundamental rules of full and fair debate in a single stroke,” said Senator Lieberman. “That the Republican majority can work its anti-conservation will only by twisting the rules only goes to expose the hollowness of its agenda.”
“We are writing to voice our strong opposition to the inclusion in the Budget Resolution of assumed revenues and a reconciliation instruction for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee linked to opening the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing and development,” the senators wrote. “Should this language move forward to the floor of the Senate, we can assure you that every effort will be made to strike this reconciliation instruction.”
Last December, on the floor of the Senate, Lieberman and his colleagues successfully stopped legislation attached to a defense spending bill that would have given a green light to Arctic drilling. By leading the fight to keep Arctic drilling out of the 2006 Defense Department Appropriations Act, the Senators stopped this attempt at legislative blackmail and kept the Senate playing by the rules. The Arctic drilling measures previously proposed by drilling proponents, in addition to authorizing drilling, would waive numerous existing environmental laws and regulations in order to clear the way for oil companies.
Established by President Eisenhower in 1960, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is a diverse and fragile ecosystem. Proponents of drilling want to open up the most biologically diverse part of the Refuge, the coastal plain, to oil exploration.
didnt see your post Todd, buut, yeah, exactly.
got the same form letter. I feel important now.
America trying to save its collective ass as Iran threatens to cut off their oil and switch to Euros.
Just so you know. We get ther majority of our oil from Canada. The middle east supplies us with a small percentage of our oil.
The big issue is them dumping dollars and trying to set up a market for oil trading using the euro as its currency vs. the dollar.
That is the real danger and it is most likely why we will go to war with Iran. This is what Saddam was doing right before we invaded
Interesting. I really had no idea that we get most of our oil from Canada. I do see the similarities between an Iran invasion and the Iraq now that you mention said.
an interesting site for oil info.
Intresting and unexpected facts about the world Oil and Gas Industry
also, i guess gale norton\'s leaving has the folks who want to drill a little edgy, and thus the push for the vote before she goes???
You\'ll love this. Especially considering it isn\'t getting much press
NORTH SLOPE: Leak may be one of largest in 29 years of production.
By WESLEY LOY
Anchorage Daily News
Published: March 4, 2006
Last Modified: March 4, 2006 at 07:18 AM
Crews of up to 70 people are working 12-hour shifts around the clock to clean up a crude oil spill in the giant Prudhoe Bay field, state pollution regulators and a BP spokesman said Friday.
Officials still had no estimate of how much crude leaked out of a large pipeline before a BP worker discovered the leak Thursday morning.
But by early Friday afternoon, the Department of Environmental Conservation reported that vacuum trucks working the site had sucked up nearly 21,000 gallons of oil and water.
North Slope oil production remained down by 100,000 barrels a day, or 12 percent, because the leak forced the shutdown of some wells and a major oil-processing plant. The oil is worth about $6 million per day at current prices.
Oil production will be reduced indefinitely, said Daren Beaudo, spokesman for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., which runs the nation\'s largest oil field.
Beaudo said it wasn\'t clear how many gallons of the recovered liquid were oil and how many were melted snow. Cleanup workers will know after the liquid, being held in a storage tank, settles out and separates, he said.
Judging by the scale of the state and industry response, the spill potentially could rank among the largest crude oil spills in 29 years of Prudhoe oil production.
Cleanup workers rallied a fleet of trucks, heavy equipment and even shovels to clear away snow from 3 to 5 acres of tundra to try to assess the spread of the oil.
A small army of workers reaching from Prudhoe to Deadhorse to Fairbanks to Anchorage tackled a range of tasks: clearing snow, applying for permits to work on the delicate tundra, building an ice road and work pad around the contaminated site, peeling back insulation on the pipeline to try to find the source of the leak, testing the air for fumes that could harm workers, and taking steps to prevent as many as 245 idled Prudhoe Bay wells from freezing up.
Temperatures down to 20 degrees below zero, plus a stiff breeze, made the whole operation tougher.
Fluids were freezing in the hoses leading into the vacuum trucks, and workers were swapping out frequently to avoid frostbite, according to a DEC status report.
The pipeline was plugged to prevent any more oil from leaking, Beaudo said.
Although workers Friday had peeled back much insulation off the pipeline, which is 34 inches in diameter, they still hadn\'t found any obvious holes through which the oil could have escaped, Beaudo said.
Cleanup workers say a trail of oil had reached a lake just north of the pipeline, but tests showed the lake was frozen to the bottom, he said. The fact that the tundra and lake are frozen will aid in the cleanup.
"You never want to have an oil spill," Beaudo said. "But if it happens, these are good conditions. Snow and ice work as an ally to protect the tundra underneath, and the water."
Beaudo revealed that the big pipeline, which carried oil from two processing plants known as gathering centers to the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline, had known interior and exterior corrosion damage.
Because of this, BP had downgraded the maximum pressure allowed within the line to help guard against rupturing its steel walls, he said. The pipeline was operating well within the reduced pressure limit when the leak was discovered, he said.
BP can test the integrity of pipelines by sending a bullet-shaped sensor known as a smart pig through the pipe. The last time a smart pig slid through the 34-inch pipe was 1998, Beaudo said. It was scheduled for pigging this summer, he said.
The DEC, which enforces state pollution laws, had numerous staffers on the scene Friday.
BP runs Prudhoe Bay on behalf of itself, Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips and other oil companies.
senate.gov