[silence]

I feel very strongly about saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from Big Oil. Over the past few years I've sent many letters to our members of Congress imploring them to save this fragile wilderness and the wildlife at risk there. Next week the Senate is planning its final vote, with a full House vote scheduled the week after. The vote to save the Arctic Refuge will be very close and your help is needed. You can make a difference! Let your voices be heard. Please go here and send a personal message to your representatives in Congress NOW: http://action.defenders.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_homepage Don't forget to spread the word to your friends and relatives, too! This is our LAST CHANCE TO SAVE THE ARCTIC. Washington's Senators Murray and Cantwell, as well as most of our local House members, have consistently voted to protect the the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. Sending them a personal email message now will reinforce their knowledge that we're behind them 100% in this in this battle. It's also extremely important to get the word out ASAP to friends and relatives across the nation, esp those who may be unaware that their representatives are voting for Big Oil. To see their voting records go here: http://www.savearcticrefuge.org/sections/leg.html Thanks for your help and concern!

[MtnGoat]

thanks for the mailing lists!

[Backpacker Joe]

I'm for drilling big time! Frankly I think you're foolish if you think that drilling in such a small area will adversely effect the 2+ million acres of ANWR. The oil companies are not the DEVIL for gods sake. Electricity does NOT come from the wall. We ALL pay a price for our modern conveniences. Get over it and grow up already.

[Tazz]

NO I don't want too (as I throw myself on the floor kicking and screaming)

[peppersteak'n'ale]

[Tazz]

[Backpacker Joe]

[Tazz]

who needs to get a grip? relax now and breath. IN...OUT.... ahhh thats better isn't it.

[polarbear]

Everybody get a grip. It's not the end of the world, although it's certainly closer to the North Pole than Venezuela or the Perian Gulf. Don't these man made structures end up attracting animals too? I mean, we've had bear in Issaquah.

[Slugman]

"wacko...freaks...idiocy" I see only one person going overboard and irrational on this thread...I guess any disagreement with the party line brings a tirade of anger and nonsense. A perfect snapshot of why politics was banned from the site. I prefer Mtn Goat's understated approach: just use the links to say you support (or don't support) the drilling.

[strider]

> Subject: Seven Days to Save Your Coast! > > Only Seven Days to Save Your Coast in Congress: > A bill aimed at opening all of America's most sensitive coastlines to >offshore drilling will be voted on, up or down, on the House Floor in only >a week, on November 7. House Leadership has chosen to hide offshore >drilling within a broader budget bill that is immune from any amendments, >so your own Representatives must now vote against "final passage" of what >is called the "Budget Reconciliation Package" to save your state's coastal >waters. Hastily approved by a party-line vote in the House Resources >Committee on October 26, the deceptively titled "Ocean State Options Act" >would immediately remove all of our existing coastal protections by quickly >rescinding the bipartisan offshore drilling moratorium that has been >renewed each year for twenty-four years. This treacherous proposal would >instead create a complex new bureaucracy requiring each state's legislature >and governor to continually agree to ask the Secretary of Interior, every >five years, for an additional extension of their state's protection, but >after ten years all protection for every state would be gone. The >Secretary of Interior could, at any time, deny continued coastal >protection, even while states would be continually coerced - with offers of >money - to allow offshore drilling. If that's not bad enough, the very >same Budget Reconciliation Package would also open the Arctic National >Wildlife Refuge to oil companies while opening our coast. The oil >industry, flush with record-setting profits, is now lobbying hard to get >this bill passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law before >coastal communities and the public can wake up to what is in this >last-minute legislation. Each American who cares about their favorite >coastal natural treasure now has a critical role to play in the upcoming >House vote. We need to alert the media in all coastal regions with our own >Op-Eds and calls to reporters, and above all, we must make calls to be >absolutely sure that our own Representatives will vote against final >passage of the Budget Reconciliation Act on November 7. This is a >history-making moment, and the future of our coast, forever, depends >entirely on what actions we each take in the next seven days. > > To get direct contact information such as the DC office phone number for >your Representative, you can visit http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/, or >go to http://www.house.gov/ You can also call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard >at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Representative's office. > > _______________________________________________ > > Richard Charter > Co-Chair, National OCS Coalition > waterway@monitor.net > > (S.and please pass this message on, broadly)

[Tom]

> Subject: cut and paste > I know the world is about to end (quickly) > so free to leave out this style of formatting > in the future. > (and please pass this message on, broadly)

[Backpacker Joe]

[Gil]

Actually, the problem is with the way oil companies want to drill in ANWR and the way "footprint" is defined. Previous Republican proposals would have limited development to a "footprint" of 2,000 acres, seemingly a drop in the bucket in the 20 million-acre wilderness. But the bills defined "footprint" as the amount of land covered by drilling wells and directly related equipment. Not included: the roads and pipelines connecting them, airfields, etc. Also, those 2,000 acres could be widely dispersed, leading to a lot of roads and pipelines. And now the recent Senate version dropped the reference to the limit. So, yes, if the development was limited to 2,000 acres all tightly compacted, then the effect on the wildlife refuge would be small. But there's nothing now to prevent a much larger area from being affected. It also would take up to 10 years for this oil to actually reach consumers even if we started now. So don't look for any quick relief at the pump.

[peppersteak'n'ale]