Tuesday, November 1, 2005

Preserve wildlife....

I know I promised a proper entry, and that was my plan.  We all know what happens to plans  ;)  

So, for the moment, read this....   

For those as interested in the Arctic as I, act on this  :)  

Now, you cannot say you never knew......

Dear Cathy,

It's now or never if we want to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the White House and Republican leaders in Congress are stacking the odds against us. They're using underhanded procedural tactics to sneak through legislation to destroy the Arctic Refuge. The vote will occur this week in the Senate and next week in the House of Representatives.

We need your help to spread the truth about what's happening. We will fight this to the end, however long the odds, to show them that America won't stand for their misplaced priorities.

Call your Members of Congress today

Despite years of control in Washington, George Bush and the Republican leadership have been unable to secure support for opening the Refuge to oil drilling.

Why? Because of you. Thanks to the incredible grassroots work that you've done year after year, we have been able to hold elected officials accountable on this issue and it has driven the Republicans crazy.

During the debate on the Arctic Refuge last spring, Republican leaders were so upset about our email and the work of more than 425,000 concerned members of the johnkerry.com community that they literally complained about it during the debate on the Senate floor.

We must have been doing something right and we need to do so again.

Please call Congress and urge them to support efforts to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

These votes will decide the fate of the Refuge. It's no time to be sitting on the sidelines. We have to make our voice heard in this debate on Capitol Hill, and if we lose the vote there, we have to make sure we don't lose the debate across America.

There are two important ways you can help:

1) Call your Members of Congress today and urge them to vote to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

2) Join me and millions of Americans who are working hard in 2005 and 2006 to change the course in Washington and elect more progressive leaders to Congress and the Senate who are committed to protecting and preserving all that makes this country so special. It's called Keeping America's Promise and we need your help to support candidates who share our vision of America.

People in America are tired of the corruption, cronyism, and incompetence coming out of Washington these days. And it isn't just underhanded tactics in politics; we are seeing it in policy as well.

We need to get the truth out about how Republicans are hijacking the legislative process to destroy Alaska's wildlife refuge.

Led by my friend Maria Cantwell of Washington in the Senate and my friend and fellow Massachusetts legislator Ed Markey in the House, we have established a strong bi-partisan coalition in the House and Senate to try to stop this underhanded maneuver.

We need your help to get the message out. Please call your Members of Congress and let the facts speak for themselves.

  • Drilling in the Arctic Refuge can't make even a small dent in meeting America's energy needs. U.S. Geological Survey scientists estimate that there is very likely only enough oil to supply America's needs for six months. And oil companies admit that even that won't be available for at least 10 years.
  • The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's 19 million acres comprise one of the last places on earth where an intact expanse of arctic and sub arctic land remains protected.
  • An irreplaceable natural treasure, the Arctic Refuge is home to caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, golden eagles, snow geese and more. Millions of other birds use the Arctic Refuge to nest and as a critical staging area on their migratory journeys.
  • The Arctic Refuge supports more than wildlife. For a thousand generations, the Gwich'in people of Northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada have depended on it and lived in harmony with it. To them, the Arctic Coastal Plain is sacred ground.
  • Oil companies are experiencing windfall profits while Americans struggle at the pump. They don't need any more giveaways from the Republican Party, especially ones that put our environment behind special interests.
  • It's time this Administration acknowledged we can't drill our way to energy independence. We have to invent our way there.

You can make a difference by getting this message out. Now is the time to take action. Call your elected representatives, recruit your friends and neighbors to do the same, and together we can break through.

Call your Members of Congress today

Starting this week, Senator Cantwell and I will be fighting to protect the Refuge on the Senate floor. And next week, the debate will move to the House of Representatives. The support of the johnkerry.com community is essential in this fight. We can't let the Republican leadership have the last word on saving this national treasure. Join us and send a powerful message to Washington that the American people are ready and willing to hold elected leaders accountable for the actions they take.

Thank You.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. This will be an historic vote for the environment. We really need your help to get the word out. Please pass this email along to all your friends and family.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info Cat!  

One of my dreams is to see Alaska some day...and I sure hope our government doesn't ruin what is left of sacred land...

Going to the links you left now...

*hugs*

Anonymous said...

Cat
I agree, thanks for passing this along to us.
Sam

Anonymous said...

Interesting!!  It has been a mighty quiet topic huh!!  I haven't heard anything about it!!
Colleen

Anonymous said...

Senator Maria Cantwell's reaction to ANWR:

Cantwell Fights to Stop Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge

Flawed Proposal Would Not Reduce Gas Prices or Confront America’s Oil Addiction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) fought to stop oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Wednesday.  The Senate is scheduled to vote on Cantwell’s anti-drilling amendment sometime Thursday.

“This is about more than just protecting one of America’s last pristine natural treasures,” said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  “Using backdoor tactics to destroy America’s last great wild frontier will not solve our nation’s energy problems and will do nothing to lower skyrocketing gas prices.”

Proponents of the plan claim that drilling in the Refuge can be done in an environmentally benign way, but evidence from adjacent Prudhoe Bay indicates otherwise. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Prudhoe Bay oil fields and Trans-Alaska Pipeline have caused an average of 504 spills annually on the North Slope since 1996.  Through last year, those spills included more than 1.9 million gallons of toxic substances including diesel, crude oil, and hydraulic oil.

“This is about priorities,” said Cantwell.  “This is about harnessing American ingenuity to confront our dangerous oil addiction.  We need to give our children a future less dependent on fossil fuel.  According to the Energy Department’s latest analysis, even if oil companies drill in the wildlife refuge and hit peak production, it will only lower gas prices by a penny per gallon.”

Anonymous said...

Can I just sleep with John Edwards, and consider that, doing my part?  Damn that man is fine...wish he would have been VP, I'd definitely pay attention to politics then.

~SLutty Nae

Anonymous said...

Consider this done!

You've done your public service for the day, and a good one at that.


Jimmy

Anonymous said...

Secretive subject, it is not being mentioned.
Interesting!!

Hope your Halloween was fun!

Love,
Theresa