[JPI] new attacks on ANWR (Arctic Wildlife Refuge)

[Cecelia Hawkins]

UCC Justice & Peace Action Network Weekly Message #5:
STOP THE DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is again under
attack in the Senate.  The first attack came in the form
of several pro-drilling riders attached to the
Appropriations Bill. The second attack is expected in
mid-March when the Senate will vote on whether to open
ANWR to oil drilling as part of the Budget Resolution.

Six Republican senators have written to President Bush in
opposition to drilling in the Refuge, and these Senators
need to be thanked.  The letter was organized by Senator
Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and was co-signed by Senators
John McCain of Arizona, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island,
Susan Collins of Maine, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Peter
G. Fitzgerald of Illinois.

In the House of Representatives legislation has been
introduced that would protect ANWR from drilling.
Representatives Edward Markey (D-MA) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT)
re-introduced the Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act, which
would designate the fragile 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain
of the Refuge as statutory wilderness.  There are over 130
co-sponsors of this bill from both parties.
The Refuge is home to a diverse array of wildlife and includes
the calving grounds of the migratory Porcupine Caribou Herd.
This herd is already suffering from decreased calving rates
due to the disruptions created by oil exploration and
drilling.

The Gwich'in are a group of Native Athabascan people who have
maintained a traditional subsistence way of life that relies
on the Caribou for food, clothing, shelter, medicine and tools.


Contact your senators through http://www.ucctakeaction.org
and urge them to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
from drilling. If you are a resident of Maine, Arizona, Rhode
Island, Ohio or Illinois, please send a special thank-you-note
to the Republican senator(s) listed above who have opposed
drilling in ANWR.

Contact your representative through
http://www.ucctakeaction.org and urge them to support the
Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act.




_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus