House passes budget that advances drilling in the Arctic Refuge

ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE * DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE * ENVIRONMENT AMERICA * Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges * GREENPEACE USA * GWICH’IN STEERING COMMITTEE * NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY * NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL * SIERRA CLUB * THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH * THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY  

WASHINGTON – Today, the House Budget Committee passed a budget bill that advances drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is the latest in a series of steps, part of a concerted, deliberate effort to open the Arctic Refuge to unpopular drilling. 

Statement from Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges, Greenpeace USA, Gwich’in Steering Committee, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, The Episcopal Church and The Wilderness Society:

“Some places in our nation are simply too special, too sacred to drill – and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of them.

The American people won’t stand for this – for 30 years, Arctic Refuge protections have had unwavering support from across the nation. Oil industry allies in Congress have tried nearly 50 times to get drilling approved in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and it remains safe from development to this day. Recent polling has shown that more than two-thirds of the American public want to see this iconic landscape protected.

The Arctic Refuge is one of our nation’s most majestic places and home to the Porcupine Caribou Herd,  which the Gwich’in Nation depends on for survival. It is also home musk oxen, wolves, imperiled polar bears, and nearly 200 species of migratory birds that migrate to six continents and all 50 states. We will not stop until this special place is protected from those who want to plunder it.”