It’s National Wildlife Refuge Week, take a few minutes to defend the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Above image: courtesy and copyright: Florian Shulz.
Trump’s 2018 budget contains billions of dollars to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The House has already voted to approve the budget and its drilling (Mark Amodei voted to drill). The Senate will be voting soon (maybe even this week). Please take time to call Senator Dean Heller today (his numbers are below). Urge him to oppose any budget or legislative proposal to allow oil and/or gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Use any of the talking points below:
• The Refuge is one of the last, wild, remote places on Earth and the largest wildlife refuge in the United State, at 19.6 million acres;
• The Refuge is home to more than 200 species, including the Porcupine Caribou herd. With 300,000 caribou only 10 years ago, the herd has dwindled to 170,000 animals, because of early-thawing rivers and oil & gas pollution;
• The Refuge is also home to salmon, Arctic char and whitefish;
• The Refuge is the primary denning zone for polar bears in the United States; it is also the only place in the U.S. where all three species of bears - brown (which includes grizzlies), black and polar – can be found.
• All of these resources are essential to the Gwich’in people, who have thrived in villages along the migration path of the Porcupine Caribou Herd since time immemorial, and consider the Coastal Plain where calves are born sacred. The Gwich’in depend on the caribou for subsistence; their way of life is tied inextricably to the health of the caribou. The few western foods that are shipped into the villages are prohibitively expensive and cannot be substituted for the abundance of caribou and other native animal and plant food sources—all of which are threatened by a warming climate and oil & gas drilling;
• The Arctic Refuge serves a vital role as a remaining link with the unspoiled natural world and a source of hope for future generations, even for those who may never set foot there.
Don’t threaten the Arctic Refuge for dinosaur energy!
• Opening the Refuge to drilling is investing in an outmoded fuel that is poisoning our planet. And it’s unnecessary for the following reasons:
• Renewable energy (solar and wind) are now cost-competitive with fossil fuels (especially if fossil-fuel subsidies are removed). The only reason Arctic drilling proposals are moving forward is to increase the profits for oil & gas company shareholders and executives. Nobody NEEDS this energy;
• Meanwhile abundant solar, geothermal, and wind energy are waiting untapped here in Nevada. Done right, we can harness these ever-present sources of energy without harming our air, water and food chain;
• There are currently more jobs in renewable energy than in fossil fuels;
• Clean energy jobs will only increase as we invest in them, and clean energy will prevent the poisoning of air, water and wildlife in the Arctic Refuge and elsewhere.
Heller
Reno: (775) 686-5770
Las Vegas: (702) 388-6605
DC: (202) 224-6244
Tell them the following:
• This is an important issue to Nevadans (Heller has questioned how much Nevadans care about this issue);
• Senators don’t like to step on each other’s turf. Heller will defer to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (who’s in favor of drilling in the Arctic Refuge) unless he receives abundant opposition to the proposed drilling;
• Tell them you “oppose any budget or legislative proposal to allow oil and/or gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
• Include any of the other above arguments you think are important (or any other points you want to make);
• Provide your address, and request a response.
AND
Click here to send an email to your representatives
Another gorgeous photo courtesy and copyright Florian Shulz.
If you've made it this far, thank you! Please share with everyone you know. The Arctic Refuge is too important to lose.