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| Opposition is Bruin: Protestors, including native Alaskans and local wildlife, rallied on Capitol Hill to show their support for keeping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge free from drilling. |
As Supporters Rally, Congressional Moderates Hold Key to Refuge’s Future
The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge continues to hang in the balance as both houses of Congress work on budget reconciliation bills. These bills include projected revenues from drilling in the Refuge—so if the reconciliation passes, the Refuge will be open to oil exploration. But whether it passes depends on a set of moderate Republicans who have supported Refuge protection in the past, including Maine senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, John McCain of Arizona, and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, as well as two more senators and 29 House moderates.
While the reconciliation bills wait for their turn on the docket, thousands of activists are wasting no time making their voices heard on Capitol Hill. September 20th was Arctic Refuge Action Day, when the Sierra Club and its partners in the Alaska Coalition rallied on the Capitol’s west lawn with more than 3,000 citizens who came from as far as Wisconsin and Michigan on overnight bus rides. A diverse group of leaders addressed the rally, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Senators Lincoln Chafee, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton, a member of the Canadian Parliament, the Episcopal bishop for Alaska, and Gwich’in leaders Sarah James and Joe Linklater. Afterwards, participants visited their representatives about the upcoming vote on drilling.
One of those was Amelia Nuding, from the New York City area. While working and traveling in Alaska this summer, Nuding was inspired to volunteer at the Sierra Club’s Anchorage office, and is now active with the Club in New York. She helped organize a bus to bring 15 New Yorkers to the rally, after which she lobbied at the offices of three members of Congress. “Even though I’m back in New York,” Nuding says of her work, “it makes me feel closer to Alaska.”
Take Action: Sign the Club’s petition in support of protecting the Arctic at sierraclub.org/petition/arctic, send a letter to your senators and representative, and write letters to the editor of your local newspapers. (And if you have friends or relatives in the states represented by the moderates mentioned above, urge them to tell their senators and representatives that the Arctic Refuge is a national treasure that the majority of Americans want to protect.) For more information, contact Jeff Waner at (202) 675-7914 or Melinda Pierce at (202) 675-7912.
photo by Megan Lewis
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