The Senate has released its budget plan for 2018, which proposes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling to help pay for the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. For congressional leaders wishing to drill in the Arctic, the budget process is the vehicle of choice as it only requires 51 votes to pass and cannot be filibustered. Any other effort to approve Arctic drilling would require 60 votes, a feat proven impossible for more than three decades. So, with 52 Republican seats in the Senate, and the tie-breaking vote in the hands of Vice President Mike Pence, the Arctic faces its greatest threat to date.
Ninety Conservation Alliance members and recreation organizations have joined us in a letter asking Congress to keep the Arctic Refuge out of the 2018 budget process.
