Virginia Cramer, virginia.cramer@sierraclub.org, 804-519-8449
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed a bill essentially removing the sensitive coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the refuge system, opening the entire 1.5 million acres to drilling. The bill ignores the importance of the area to the Gwich’in Nation, as well as a host of environmental safeguards, and cost realities that make raising the estimated revenue from drilling in the Arctic Refuge nearly impossible.
In response Athan Manuel, Sierra Club director of public lands protection issued the following statement:
“If even the Arctic Refuge isn’t safe from drilling, then no park, forest or monument boundary will be able to keep the drills out. The passage of this bill shows that Trump’s allies in Congress aren’t thinking twice about exploiting our parks and wild places if it means giving corporate polluters huge tax breaks.
“Our country’s public lands are more than line items and their existence is more than a luxury. Congress must reject this rigged plan before it costs our health and one of our last wild places.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.