Vote on Alaska National wildlife Refuge coming soo

The latest from Earthjustice. The vote on the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is this week. Incidentally, Helen Thayer will present a program at the Mountaineers Thursday night on living with wolves.<br><br>

Today is the day -- Arctic Refuge Action Day! Thousands of Americans are gathering in Washington, DC, as part of this event, and are rallying in support of protecting the Arctic Refuge. You can be part of the action too by calling your members of Congress and letting them know how important it is to you that the Arctic Refuge remains free from oil drilling and development. Help us keep the phones ringing and build a buzz about protecting the Arctic Refuge on Capitol Hill!<br><br>Calling Congress is easy! Just dial the Capitol switchboard: 1-877-762-8762. Then ask to be connected to your senator or representative's office (click here to find your representatives). Then, say your name and where you're from.<br><br>You can use the sample script below as a guide:<br><br>"Hi, my name is (John) and I live in (Denver)."<br><br>"I&#8217;m calling to ask you to oppose any legislation that includes opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development &#8211; even if it is included in the federal budget bill."<br><br>Why?<br><br>* Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would irreparably damage a pristine haven for wildlife while doing nothing to solve our energy problems;<br><br>* At best, the price of a gallon of gas would change by about a penny, and that&#8217;s 20 years from now according to the Department of Energy;<br><br>* We should keep the Refuge wild and unspoiled, and invest our time and money in conservation strategies such as making our cars go further on a gallon of gas.<br><br>Please call now -- five minutes of your time can make a big difference to the fate of the refuge! <br><br>Thank you for all you do,<br><br>-Earthjustice<br>Because the earth needs a good lawyer<br>426 17th Street, Oakland, CA 94612-2820

Gary-  Sorry for missing this ... been traveling .  My higher level point was this:  Put your efforts into effecting change that has a greater impact (please re-read my entire post, not just the one oil worker/single spill example).  You have a link to a url that cites 300-400 spills a year.  An ounce or less spill counts towards that tally. I don't represent the oil indusrty:  <br><br>( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem  )

My point was a little higher level than dead birds and limited spills:  Look at the global picture and realize that citizens of emerging nations are coming after you, and they'll take every shortcut needed to win (China, India, Indonesia, and on and on), and that they should be the focus of OUR attention.  Yes, we are the worlds largest energy consumers, but that only tells half of the story.  Have you been to ANY of these places (Y/N)?  I have and can report that the amount of damage that drilling in a vast area vs. the damage caused by billions of serious polluters (and no, I'm not giving a pass to the first world citizens like the French, Germans, and US) makes the AK question tiny in comparison.   For example, the haze over all of AK is documented and it comes from fires and pollution (and the occasion volcano) from Asia, and not from the bastions of environmentalism like NY or LA or Seattle.

I'm not saying we should drill in AK and kill seal pups for sport.  I am saying we should be aware (or beware) of other other countries polluting "OUR" air, and we should keep our nations best interest in mind.  If that means employing the AK option, so be it.

Hey, I'm all for putting each and every oil company's "Energy Products Divisions" out of business as fast as possible to promote cleaner air (but obviously not the oil derived *^!*#!&? we wear and use in the back country- poly pro and plastics- it's a small percentage of total oil output).  "We" (read you and me, not the Govt.) need to develope alternative energy sources, and rid ourselves of this blight called foreign dependence.

AP: Senate Backs Drilling in Arctic Refuge:<br><br> www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/03/D8DL6FO86.html