URGENT! LETTER TO PROTECT THE ARTIC

[Guest guest]

LETTER TO PROTECT THE ARTIC

 

http://www.actionnetwork.org/campaign/arctic

 

Prewritten on web. Go to the site to send a letter.

 

 

Forward wildly!

 

 

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain has often been called

" America's Serengeti " because of its abundant and diverse wildlife. Home to

nearly 200 species, including musk oxen, grizzlies, wolves, snow geese and

millions of other migratory birds, the coastal plain is also the most

important on-shore denning area in America for polar bears and their cubs.

 

This 1.5 million-acre stretch of tundra is nestled in the northeast corner

of Alaska between the highest peaks and glaciers of the Brooks Range and the

Arctic Ocean and until now has been virtually untouched by humankind.

Each year, the coastal plain is also the site of one of our continent's

greatest wildlife spectacles: the annual Porcupine River caribou herd

migration. These 129,000 caribou are the primary source of food for the

Gwich'in Indians, who trace their history back 20,000 years and consider the

coastal plain the " sacred place where life begins. "

 

Right now, President Clinton has the opportunity to protect the Arctic

National Wildlife Refuge and its magnificent wildlife forever - by declaring

it a national monument. But oil companies and other special interests are

lobbying him heavily to open the biological heart of this wilderness to oil

drilling, which would transform the Refuge into a vast oil field complete

with roads, pipelines, sewage plants, refineries and pollution.

 

Please urge the president to reject oil industry pressure and permanently

protect this pristine wilderness and the animals that call it home.

 

 

 

 

 

_______________

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[Guest guest]

Clinton Won't Name Refuge Monument

by JESSE J. HOLLAND - Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton will leave office this month without

making the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska a national monument,

the

White House announced Wednesday.

 

The Arctic refuge, known commonly as ANWR, has an abundance of migrating

birds, polar bears, musk oxen, caribou, grizzly bears and other wildlife.

Its 120-mile-long coastal plain is believed to have large oil reserves as

well.

 

Environmentalists have pressed Clinton to declare monument status for the

coastal plain to ensure its permanent protection from oil development.

Both President-elect Bush and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney have

backgrounds in the oil industry, and Bush has made drilling in the reserve a

major part of his proposed energy plan.

 

Using the authority of the 1906 Antiquities Act, Clinton has created a dozen

federal monuments this year by executive order.

 

''We believe, after consulting with our environmental team, that ANWR has

something that some of the other areas we looked at does not have, ...

legislative protective status, which is higher than that conferred to

monuments,'' White House spokesman Jake Siewert said.

 

Monument designation provides increased protection against development.

Such protection already is written into law for the ANWR, Siewert said,

legislation from the Carter administration that specifically prevents oil

drilling.

 

Lawmakers can enact legislation to allow development, but ''it would be very

hard to open it up to drilling given the narrow split that exists in

Congress,'' Siewert said.

 

The Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with Cheney's

constitutional tie-breaking vote as the Senate's presiding office the only

difference. The GOP commands a small majority in the House.

 

If the president gave out monument status, the next president alone could

try

to reverse it, Siewert said. This way, ''They're going to have to go

through

Congress to do it, and we don't think Congress would be wise to open that

area to drilling,'' he said.

 

http://www.newsday.com/ap/topnews/ap617.htm

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future 4all [afuture4all]

Tuesday, 16 January 2001 02:15

afuture4all

URGENT! LETTER TO PROTECT THE ARTIC

 

 

LETTER TO PROTECT THE ARTIC

 

http://www.actionnetwork.org/campaign/arctic

 

Prewritten on web. Go to the site to send a letter.

 

 

Forward wildly!

 

 

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain has often been called

" America's Serengeti " because of its abundant and diverse wildlife. Home

to

nearly 200 species, including musk oxen, grizzlies, wolves, snow geese and

millions of other migratory birds, the coastal plain is also the most

important on-shore denning area in America for polar bears and their cubs.

 

This 1.5 million-acre stretch of tundra is nestled in the northeast corner

of Alaska between the highest peaks and glaciers of the Brooks Range and

the

Arctic Ocean and until now has been virtually untouched by humankind.

Each year, the coastal plain is also the site of one of our continent's

greatest wildlife spectacles: the annual Porcupine River caribou herd

migration. These 129,000 caribou are the primary source of food for the

Gwich'in Indians, who trace their history back 20,000 years and consider

the

coastal plain the " sacred place where life begins. "

 

Right now, President Clinton has the opportunity to protect the Arctic

National Wildlife Refuge and its magnificent wildlife forever - by

declaring

it a national monument. But oil companies and other special interests are

lobbying him heavily to open the biological heart of this wilderness to

oil

drilling, which would transform the Refuge into a vast oil field complete

with roads, pipelines, sewage plants, refineries and pollution.

 

Please urge the president to reject oil industry pressure and permanently

protect this pristine wilderness and the animals that call it home.

 

 

 

 

 

_______________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

 

 

eGroups Sponsor

 

 

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