This is it: Senate to vote on fate of Arctic Refuge this week

Some places are just too special to be sold -- at any price. That’s why the Senate needs to hear from you once again about your opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling proponents have resorted to sneaking Arctic drilling language into the federal budget bill where they think it will go unnoticed. But no one is fooled. To save the Arctic Refuge, the entire federal budget must be defeated.

With your help, we can win this fight. Arctic provisions aside, there are a host of other unpopular and controversial measures in the budget that could help bring it down. But this vote will be extremely close, making it vital that you make your voice heard now. Please ask your senators to oppose the budget and save the refuge.

(P.S. The House is likely to vote next week, so we’ll keep you posted!)

Send a letter to your senators (below is a sample letter, but personalized messages are always the most compelling):

RE: Oppose the budget and save the Arctic Refuge

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

As your constituent and an American who cares deeply about our nation's natural heritage, I cannot urge you strongly enough to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by voting against the federal budget reconciliation.

The upcoming budget vote is the most critical decision regarding America's largest and wildest refuge that our nation has ever faced. By burying the Arctic drilling language in the federal budget, drilling proponents have shown a blatant disregard for the American public's desire to keep the Arctic Refuge free from the destructive impacts of oil development. Authorizing Arctic drilling by passing this budget would be a national shame. While there have been other votes on this issue in the past, this is the vote that will count.

Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is not a path to energy independence or lower gas prices. The government's own studies show the refuge contains less than a year's supply of oil, such a tiny amount that it would save us only about a penny per gallon, 20 years from now. No one believes that a few pennies justify the loss of one of our nation's -- and the world's -- most special places.

Opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is reason enough to oppose this bill which goes against the priorities of the American people. Please vote "No" on the budget reconciliation.

Sincerely,

Instructions: Click here to take action!

The moment of truth is here. The refuge has been at risk many times over the years, but never before has the threat been so serious or the vote so pivotal.

What's At Stake: The fate of a wild place

At the heart of the debate is the pristine Arctic Refuge coastal plain, home to polar bears, brown bears, musk oxen, and wolves, along with millions of migratory birds and the Porcupine caribou herd, which migrates thousands of miles to calve there. The Gwich'in people depend upon this annual migration for their subsistence way of life. To them, the coastal plain is "the place where life begins."

While drilling proponents assert that the oil development footprint would cover just 2,000 acres, the reality is that the spiderweb of roads and pipelines necessary to wrest oil from this unique landscape would broadly and permanently damage a enormous swath of the coastal plain.

Take Action!

Please take action today, and ask your senators to oppose the budget and save the refuge.

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