In 2010, the Conservation Alliance awarded Alaska Wilderness League a grant to encourage President Obama to designate the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a National Monument. Yesterday, was the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's 50th anniversary. Take action HERE to urge President Obama to designate the Arctic as a National Monument.
via The LA Times on November 24, 2010:
Right about now in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, dozens of pregnant female polar bears are preparing to give birth in dens they dug into the snowdrifts last month, unaware that the fate of their home, and possibly their species, hinges on the price of gasoline. The Obama administration can and should change that.
Big Oil and its congressional allies have been mounting attempts to open the refuge to oil and gas development since the 1970s. There is no immediate danger that they'll succeed. Although the GOP electoral landslide this month ended Democratic control of the House and produced an incoming class of congressional freshman who are ardently pro-drilling, the Senate is still controlled by Democrats who oppose opening the refuge. More important, gas prices have been stable for more than a year. But should they spike — which is likely to happen if the economy significantly improves — the false perception that we could drill our way out of the problem would increase public support for opening the refuge, pressuring centrist Democrats to change their stance.
This is why half the members of the Senate (all of them Democrats except Independent Sen. Joe Liebermanletter of Connecticut) sent a letter to President Obama last week urging him to grant the "strongest possible" federal protection to the refuge, thus ending the perennial battles over drilling. Several environmental groups have joined in, urging Obama to designate the land as a national monument, which would prohibit most forms of development.
Read the rest of the story… And Take Action HERE!
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