>
> Dear NRDC Action Fund Supporter,
>
> No one voted on Election Day to destroy the Arctic National Wildlife 
> Refuge.
> But President Bush is now claiming a mandate to do exactly that.
>
> Congressional leaders are pushing for a quick vote that would turn 
> America's
> greatest sanctuary for Arctic wildlife into a vast, polluted oil field.
>
> Even worse, they are planning to avoid public debate on this 
> devastating
> measure by hiding it in a must-pass budget bill.
>
> Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arctic0501c.asp
> right now and send a message telling your U.S. senators and 
> representative to
> reject this sneak attack on the Arctic Refuge.
>
> And please forward my message to your friends, family and colleagues. 
> We must
> mobilize millions of Americans in opposition as quickly as possible.
>
> Don't believe for a second that the president is targeting the Arctic 
> Refuge
> for the sake of America's energy security or to lower gas prices at 
> the pump.
>
> President Bush knows full well that oil drilled in the Arctic Refuge 
> would take
> ten years to get to market and would never equal more than a paltry 
> one or two
> percent of our nation's daily consumption. Simply put, sacrificing the 
> crown
> jewel of our wildlife heritage would do nothing to reduce gas prices 
> or break
> our addiction to Persian Gulf oil.
>
> But if the raid on the Arctic Refuge isn't really about gas prices or 
> energy
> security, then what is it about?
>
> It's the symbolism.
>
> The Arctic Refuge represents everything spectacular and everything 
> endangered
> about America's natural heritage. It embodies a million years of 
> ecological
> serenity . . . a vast stretch of pristine wilderness . . . an 
> irreplaceable
> birthing ground for polar bears, caribou and white wolves.
>
> It is the greatest living reminder that conserving nature in its wild 
> state is
> a core American value. It stands for every remnant of wilderness that 
> we, as a
> people, have wisely chosen to protect from the relentless march of 
> bulldozers,
> chain saws and oil rigs.
>
> And that's why the Bush administration is dead set on destroying it.
>
> By unlocking the Arctic Refuge, they hope to open the door for oil, 
> gas and
> coal giants to invade our last and best wild places: our western 
> canyonlands,
> our ancient forests, our coastal waters, even our national monuments.
>
> This is the real agenda behind the raid on the Arctic Refuge and the 
> entire
> Bush-Cheney energy plan: to transfer our public estate into corporate 
> hands so
> it can be liquidated for a quick buck.
>
> House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) admitted as much when he said 
> this
> battle over the Arctic Refuge is really a fight over whether energy 
> exploration
> will be allowed in similarly sensitive areas in the future. "It's about
> precedent," Rep. DeLay said.
>
> I take him at his word. If we let the president and Congress plunder 
> the Arctic
> National Wildlife Refuge for the sake of oil company profits, then no 
> piece of
> our natural heritage will be safe from wholesale destruction.
>
> Please go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arctic0501c.asp
> and tell your senators and representative they have no mandate to 
> destroy the
> Arctic Refuge. Then please be sure to forward this message to as many 
> people as
> you can.
>
> And thank you for speaking out at this critical time.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Robert Redford
> NRDC Action Fund
>
> . . .
>
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