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A Message from Robert Redford Dear Friend, I wanted to pass along to you the following message describing my feelings about President Bush's plan to drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the urgent need for us to fight back. I know you've visited the SaveBioGems.org website and, most likely, already
taken action on behalf of our priceless Arctic wilderness -- and I thank you. Now, please do me the great favor of forwarding my message to everyone you know -- your friends, family, co-workers, discussion groups -- encouraging them to join us in this critical battle. I've never circulated this kind of email before. But I am so appalled by President Bush's plan to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to massive
oil development that I feel I must do whatever I can to help stop it. To me, the Arctic Refuge represents everything spectacular and everything endangered about America's natural heritage : a million years of ecological serenity ... vast expanses of untouched wilderness ... an irreplaceable sanctuary for polar bears, white wolves and 130,000 caribou that return here each year to give birth and rear their young. For 20,000 years -- literally hundreds of generations -- the native Gwich'in people have inhabited this sacred place, following the caribou herd and leaving the awe-inspiring landscape just as they found it. Our own presidents going back to Eisenhower have kept a bipartisan promise to safeguard this world-class natural treasure. But not THIS president. It is a sad
day indeed when our president and congressional leaders would sacrifice America's largest wildlife refuge for the sake of a possible six-month supply of national energy. A six-month supply! We could save that little oil by improving the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks by a mere one mile per gallon. Only one group of Americans will benefit from the destruction of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge : the oil giants. Everyone else loses. Arctic wildlife populations will decline, the Gwich'in people will see their land marred by pipelines and poisoned by oil spills, you and I will become even more dependent on oil, and the planet will suffer catastrophic global warming from the burning of even more fossil fuel. Unless we get millions of Americans to lodge a protest right now,
this nightmarish scenario may well come to pass in the next two months. The Republican energy bill, which would fulfill the president's promise to drill the Arctic Refuge, is moving through Congress today. House and Senate leaders may also try to sneak through the Arctic drilling provision by attaching it to a "must-pass" appropriations bill. These votes will be decided by the moderates in both parties. We must reach those moderates and hold them accountable. Here's what you can do : go to The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has set up this new website to make it extremely easy for you to send messages of protest to your senators and represenative. It will take you only a minute. I've been on NRDC's board for 25 years, so I know how effective they are at waging and winning environmental campaigns. Last year, NRDC used web activism to help generate a million messages of protest to Mitsubishi and stopped the company from destroying the last unspoiled birthing ground of the Pacific gray whale. We'll win this time too if each of us does our part for the Arctic Refuge. Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/arctic right now. And forward my message to your family, friends and colleagues. Congress cannot ignore millions of us. If we let them plunder our greatest wildlife refuge for the sake of oil company profits, then no piece of our natural heritage is safe from destruction.
Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/arctic and help keep the Arctic wild and free.
Sincerely yours, Robert Redford |
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Drilling Could Hurt Wildlife, Federal Study of Arctic Says
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Energy Politics Hit the Airwaves in Six More States: NRDC Runs Robert Redford Radio Ads in Delaware, Maryland, Nebraska, Wisconsin and the Dakotas Spots Urge Senators to Support Fuel Economy Increase, Highlight Technologies to Improve Safety and Reduce Foreign Oil Dependence New radio ads featuring actor Robert Redford are appearing this week in six states urging U.S. Senators in to support tougher fuel economy standards when the issue comes to a vote in the next few days. The ads are a challenge to high-pressure lobbying by the auto industry against the measure. Redford reminds Americans that they can have safer, more fuel-efficient cars, SUVs and pick-ups that reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but only if the Senators stand up to scare tactics and obfuscation from the car companies -- the very same companies that once opposed seat belts and air bags. "Senators will make a choice between two plans: one that guarantees better gas mileage, and another that does not," Redford says in the ads, which are sponsored by members of NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council). A provision by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) would require new cars and light trucks to get an average 36 miles per gallon by 2015, which would save more than a million barrels of oil each day. The U.S. currently imports half its daily oil supply, a figure that is growing steadily. Sixty-five percent of the world's oil reserves are in Persian Gulf countries. "The technology exists right now to build cars, minivans and SUVs that deliver much better mileage and are just as safe as any on the road today," Redford says. "Now is the time to use it." In fact, fuel savings are historically associated with better vehicle safety. Fuel efficiency for cars and passenger trucks nearly doubled between 1975 and 1999 while the fatality rate plunged by more than half. But the last time fuel economy standards were updated was 1985. In addition to reduced import dependence, the oil savings would bring dramatic health and environmental benefits, including cleaner air, fewer oil spills, a reduction in global warming pollution and less pressure to drill for oil in places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. NRDC Robert Redford/CAFE Ads Robert Redford : What would you say about a plan that gives Americans safer, more fuel-efficient cars, and reduces our dependence on foreign oil? I'm Robert Redford, and I think we'd all agree that's a good idea -- especially reducing our dependence on foreign oil. You'd think Congress would get behind this plan, too. But they aren't. In the next few days, Senators Conrad and Dorgan will make a choice between two plans : one that guarantees better gas mileage; and another -- backed by special interest lobbyists -- that doesn't. The technology exists right now to build cars, pickup trucks and SUVs that get 35 miles per gallon -- and are just as safe as any on the road today. Now's the time to use it. Call Senators Conrad and Dorgan at 202-224-3121, and ask them to support the McCain-Kerry plan. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil is the right thing to do for America. Sponsored by North Dakota members of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 500,000 members nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco. |
