December 20 , 2005
As the Congress wrapped up its work before the Christmas recess, we devoted our attention to the showdown in the Senate over the addition of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) drilling measure to the defense spending bill. We contacted our Florida representatives in the Senate, and the White House to voice our opposition to (a) the drilling project, and (b) the method by which Senator Ted Stevens attempted to bypass appropriate Congressional process.
We oppose drilling in the AWNR to reach the estimated 10 billion barrells of oil - which are projected to produce perhaps 1 million barrels a day - for the following reasons:
The focus of our country's attention to meet immediate energy needs should be: (1) on conservation; (2) on the development of alternative sources; and (3) only on expansion of existing carbon-based sources as a last resort.