Arctic refuge set back

Dear John,

We wanted you to be the first to know that despite our best efforts, Senator Cantwell's amendment that would have stripped the federal budget legislation of provisions to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge barely lost by a vote of 49-51. While this is a setback, the fight to save the Arctic Refuge is far from over.

Both of your Senators listened to your calls, faxes and emails and voted in favor of the Cantwell amendment and saving the Arctic Refuge.

Earlier this week, we told you that the Senate version of the federal budget resolution contained provisions to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced an amendment on Tuesday that would have stripped the budget of these dangerous provisions.

The failure of Senator Cantwell's amendment is disappointing, but we will continue the fight to save the Refuge, and we need your help! It's crucial that your Senators continue to hear from you about this important issue.

The Arctic Refuge is one of our last truly wild places. Using the budget to open the Arctic Refuge is a sneaky backdoor trick to avoid democratic debate and American public opinion on this critical issue. Senator Cantwell's amendment would have prevented such budget trickery.

Once you've taken action, please forward this email to friends, family and co-workers in your state and ask them to thank your Senators, as well.

Thank you again for your help,

Katelyn Sabochik
Online Campaign Manager
info@saveourenvironment.org

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I just got my email from John H. Adams and don't understand why so many Senators feel this land should be stripped. 49-51? That's pathetic!!
Here is the list of Senators and how they voted!

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LI...n=1&vote=00052

I will paste and copy just a portion of his email:

I want you to know one thing: we fought our hardest to defend the Arctic Refuge
in the U.S. Senate. Our legislative staff worked day and night to win over
critical swing votes. They were aided by the more than 450,000 emails and faxes
you sent to Congress. In the last few days, thousands of our supporters in 10
key states flooded their senators' offices with anti-drilling phone calls. And
an outpouring of contributions enabled us to run hard-hitting advertising in
the most critical states.

We gave it everything we had. But in today's vote we just could not overcome a
White House that was shamelessly trumpeting the need to sacrifice the Arctic
Refuge for the sake of America's energy security and national security -- an
argument that is as erroneous as it is destructive to our natural heritage.

Congress must still pass two different budget measures to complete its assault
on the refuge, and I can assure you that we will battle every step of the way
as these bills play out over the months to come. That's why, in the wake of
this most recent setback, I would urge you to convert your outrage and sorrow
into action. We're going to need your redoubled commitment to our cause in the
fight ahead. I know we can count on you.

Thank you for all you've done.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
NRDC Action Fund

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate's narrow vote today to leave approval for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the larger Budget Resolution is a setback, but just the first round in a long fight, according to Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

"They may have cleared the first hurdle by the skin of their teeth, but this thing isn't over, not by a long shot," Schlickeisen said. "Every step they take from here on out will just get harder. And because drilling supporters had such a tough time with the first move, we're energized to fight that much harder to make sure that, at the end of the day, the American people get their way and the Arctic Refuge remains protected."

The Senate voted 49-51 on Senator Maria Cantwell's (D-Wash.) amendment to strip Arctic Refuge drilling from the budget resolution. With the Senate closely divided on such a high-profile issue, including it in the larger budget resolution could seriously damage the prospects of that bill as it passes through the Senate, the House-Senate conference and final passage in both chambers. Even then, this provision of the budget resolution will not go into effect unless it makes it into the final Budget Reconciliation bill later in the year, which must itself go through the same arduous process as the budget resolution itself. Congress hasn't managed to complete the budget process in the last two years; if that happens again, drilling backers will be back to square one.

"The Senate just decided to make its job on the budget a whole lot harder. This is a tough vote for us to swallow, but the American people have said all along that they're opposed to Arctic Refuge drilling, and Congress is about to find out just how angry they can get," Schlickeisen said. "Shoehorning a controversial measure like Arctic Refuge drilling into the budget where it doesn't belong was a parliamentary stunt to begin with, and it's one that could very well come back to haunt them."

For more information, please visit www.savearcticrefuge.org.

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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 480,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues. To stay current on hot topics in wildlife conservation, subscribe to DENlines, Defenders of Wildlife's electronic update and action alert network.

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Urge The Senate to Reject William Myers' Nomination to the Federal Bench

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takea...ltl=1111782795

Done.

The U.S. Senate is gearing up for a showdown vote on the
nomination of William Myers, a former mining industry
lobbyist, to be a senior federal judge. Even though the
Senate rejected Myers' nomination last year, Bush has
re-nominated him, betting that a bigger Republican
majority since last November's election will help Myers
gain approval this time around.

Myers record is one of anti-environmental extremism --
he's called parts of the Clean Water Act unconstitutional,
and consistently sided with big corporate polluters when
he worked as a Bush-appointed Interior Department official.
If confirmed, Myers will likely be undermining
environmental laws for decades to come.


I'm lucky, my 2 Senators always vote pro- environment/ Anti Bush lol
I don't even have to write............... but just in case I do it anyway

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More information on the Arctic Refuge. This is a link to the BLOG I just recieved from Frances Beinecke.

http://blog.nrdcactionfund.org/

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A Senate vote could come as early as today on the so-called "nuclear option"
that would deny the minority party the right to use a filibuster -- or the
threat of a filibuster -- to block the appointment of extremist judges to the
federal courts.

The Senate has confirmed 95 percent of President Bush's candidates for the
federal bench, but the filibuster has been crucial in blocking a handful of
nominees who are outright hostile to the cornerstone environmental laws that
protect our health and natural heritage.

Losing the right to filibuster means that President Bush would gain
unchallenged power to grant lifetime tenure to judges who could do permanent
damage to wilderness, wildlife and the health of millions of Americans
currently protected by strict enforcement of environmental laws.

Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/main/a...p=2&item=52733
and send a message telling your senators to protect our environment by opposing
any change to the filibuster rule.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
NRDC Action Fund