The Bluestem Network Action Alert as of August 9, 2001, is as follows.

On August 1, the US House of Representatives voted against an amendment to the Bush energy package that would have prohibited drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Please make the following three phone calls:

First, please phone your U.S. Representative and thank him or her for a "yes" vote, or express your disappointment in a "no" vote. Remind your representative that simply raising fuel economy standards would have saved 3 million barrels of oil a day, far more than the Arctic Refuge would provide. The voting record was as follows:

Rush (D): Yes

Jackson (D): Yes

Lipinski (D): No vote

Gutierrez (D): Yes

Blagojevich (D): Yes

Hyde (R): No

Davis (D): Yes

Crane (R): No

Schakowsky (D): Yes

Kirk (R): Yes

Weller (R): No

Costello (D):Yes

Biggert (R): No

Hastert (R): No

Johnson (R): Yes

Manzullo (R): No

Evans (D): Yes

Lahood (R): Yes

Phelps (D): No

Shimkus (R): No

Second, please call your US Senators, Dick Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald, and ask them to support any Senate amendments to the Bush energy plan that would ban drilling for oil or gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Ask that they instead support measures that would call for more efficient energy use, such as raising fuel efficiency standards for light trucks and SUVs.

You can call any member of the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. by calling the Capitol Switchboard number at 202-224-3121 and asking the receptionist to speak to your U.S. Representative or Senator by name. You can place a call to US Senator Dick Durbin in Washington at 202-224-2152 or in Chicago at 312-353-4952. You can place a call to US Senator Peter Fitzgerald in Washington at 202-224-2854 or in Chicago at 312-886-3506. To make a local call to your U.S. Congressperson, please listen to the recorded message in mailbox 2 of the River Prairie Group telephone hotline.

This ends the Bluestem Network Action Alert.

What follows is a more detailed discussion of the information behind this action alert.

On August 1st, the US House of Representatives defeated by a vote of 223 to 206 an amendment to H.R. 4, "Securing America's Future Energy Act of 2001," that would have eliminated a provision that seeks to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. If the legislation passes the Senate, it will authorize destructive oil development in the 1.5 million acre coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, home to caribou, grizzly bear and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.

Ninety-five percent of Alaska's vast north slope is available for oil and gas leasing and development. The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge represents the last 5 percent that remains off-limits to oil drilling. Supporters of opening the Arctic Refuge to oil development claim that it is necessary to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, yet simply raising fuel economy standards would have saved 3 million barrels of oil a day, far more than the Arctic Refuge would provide.

At the same time as it voted against protecting the Arctic Refuge, the House also voted against an amendment that would have raised these fuel economy standards for light trucks and SUVs. Updated miles per gallon standards would have actually reduced U.S. dependence on foreign oil, saved consumers money at the gas pump, and cut global warming and pollution. The technology already exists to improve fuel economy without compromising the safety of these vehicles.

We must urge our representatives in Congress to vote responsibly in the future to provide the nation with a balanced energy policy that does not pander to industry or promote environmental harm.

This concludes the detailed explanation of the August 9, 2001, Bluestem Network Action alert.