drilling in the Artic bill AGAIN--Senators need a call (Kerry email)

[rodeodance]

----- Original Message --------
Subject: Five Better Ideas than Drilling in the Arctic Refuge
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:56:10 -0500
From: John Kerry <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: xxxx



JohnKerry.com

Call your Senators

Dear xxx,

It didn't take long. Despite the stunning defeat we dealt them just a few months ago, proponents of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are at it again.

Because when they can't win the game they just change the rules, now they've inserted language in the Senate budget bill to hand over this precious natural treasure to big oil companies -- even though they know full well that it won't make a dime's worth of difference in making America more energy independent.

Tell your Senators to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and take real action toward achieving energy independence.

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/call/senate/index.html

As we did last year, Senator Maria Cantwell and I are offering an amendment on the Senate floor to strike the proposal to drill in the Arctic Refuge. The vote could come within the next 24 to 48 hours. So please act now.

But, I'll bet that, like me, you're sick and tired of spending so much time defeating bad ideas in Washington when there are so many good ideas for America that get ignored in this city. So I'm asking you to do more than telling your Senators you want them to vote in favor of the Kerry-Cantwell Amendment. Tell them that you demand the Senate takes real action on an energy plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, bring the skyrocketing costs of energy down, and benefit the environment.

Tell your Senators to save the crown jewel of America's National Wildlife Refuge System and take real action on energy independence.
http://www.johnkerry.com/action/call/senate/index.html

There are so many real and powerful things the Bush administration and the Republican Congress could do if they were serious about energy and the environment. But, they haven't lifted a finger on any of them.

They're so beholden to the big oil and gas companies that turning over America's most precious natural resources on a fool's errand search for the last drop of oil is all they can think about.

Tell them America won't settle for their pandering and posturing any longer.

Demand real action on energy independence -- and demand it now. And when they try to tell you we have no choice but to drill in the Arctic, tell them you have a better plan.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. Here are the five cornerstones of my 2020 Energy Plan that Congress should be acting on. When you tell them to vote for the Kerry-Cantwell amendment, tell your Senators to act on one or more of these genuine alternative energy ideas. That's what America needs.

1. INCENTIVIZING RENEWABLE ENERGY

More than 20 states have implemented market-based Renewable Energy Portfolio programs that require utilities to gradually increase the portion of electricity produced from renewable resources such as wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar energy. We should build on that success at the national level. Tell your Senators to enact a nationwide Renewable Portfolio Standard so that 20% of our energy comes from renewable sources by 2020. A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that implementing this policy would save $26.6 billion and that commercial and industrial customers would be the biggest winners.
2. PROMOTING BIO-ENERGY

We have the ability to transform our transportation sector from one that fuels our addiction to one that drives us toward a sustainable future. The President should build on that demand and fuel new production opportunities by supporting a mandate that agriculture will provide 20% of the total energy consumed in the United States by 2020.
3. INVESTING IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY

In addition to developing new sources of energy, we must make better use of available energy. New technological advances in appliances, energy grid systems, and buildings can boost productivity, create jobs, improve the reliability and safety of the energy infrastructure, and make dramatic inroads in reducing air pollution. Congress should enact energy efficiency measures to decrease energy use by 20% by 2020.
4. PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPER-EFFICIENT VEHICLES

The government should provide an aggressive set of tax incentives and grants for consumers and for industries that are retooling plants to promote the manufacturing and purchase of hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of gas and electric power to sharply increase efficiency. Twenty percent of all passenger cars and trucks on the road should be high-efficiency, low emissions hybrids by 2020.
5. SETTING AMERICA FREE FROM MIDDLE EAST OIL

Today, America spends more than $500,000 per minute on foreign oil or $30 million per hour. We paid more than $42 billion for Persian Gulf imports alone in 2005. It is bad enough that these dollars will not help grow our domestic economy -- it is even worse when you consider their impact on our national security. Congress should act to eliminate America's oil imports from the Middle East by 2020.


Paid for by Friends of John Kerry, Inc.

[MH1]

1. Thanks for posting!!

I posted this in the JK group and I'm glad to see it's already up here. Good job!

I love this part:

But, I'll bet that, like me, you're sick and tired of spending so much time defeating bad ideas in Washington when there are so many good ideas for America that get ignored in this city.

He's going after that ridiculous "Dems have no plan, no ideas" meme here. Excellent. let's everyone pay attention!

[rodeodance]

5. yup, i am busy dialing some Senators. repugs and dems alike

[wisteria]

2. Thanks for posting! Time to get busy. We can't get distracted with

the Feingold/censure issue and not fight for ANWAR. It is to important.

[jenndar]

3. You're right.

That's what the RW and the MSM want. Let's get to work :)

[liberal N proud]

4. You would think the recent news about the pipeline leaking would

alert the assholes that maybe this environment is not a good place to run an oil drilling operation.

Large Oil Spill in Alaska Went Undetected for Days

By FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: March 15, 2006
WASHINGTON, March 14 — The largest oil spill to occur on the tundra of Alaska's North Slope has deposited up to 267,000 gallons of thick crude oil over two acres in the sprawling Prudhoe Bay production facilities, forcing cleanup crews to work in temperatures far below zero to vacuum and dig up the thick mixture of snow and oil.

The spill went undetected for as long as five days before an oilfield worker detected the acrid scent of hydrocarbons while driving through the area on March 2, Maureen Johnson, the senior vice president and manager of the Prudhoe Bay unit for BP, said at a news conference in Anchorage on Tuesday.

At the conference, officials from BP, the company pumping the oil, and from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said they believed that the oil had escaped through a pinprick-size hole in a corroded 34-inch pipe leading to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

The pressure of the leaking oil, they said, gradually expanded the hole to a quarter- or half-inch wide. Most of the oil seeped beneath the snow without attracting the attention of workers monitoring alarm systems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/national/15spill.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[_dynamicdems]

6. It's not too late to save ANWR. The House will vote soon.

It hasn't gotten through the House yet and there are still ways to fight the oil companies if it does.

I've collected some information about ANWR and the organizations that are fighting drilling. There are a couple of free save ANWR posters you can print out.

www.dynamicdems.com/anwr.htm

It's never over. They will keep pushing and pushing and they need to know that somebody is going to push back every time they do.