PRESS RELEASE

CONSERVATION REPORT CARD SCORES: CANTWELL AMENDMENT

The U.S. Senate's narrow vote on 3/16/05 approved oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the larger Budget Resolution. This vote was a setback, but just the first round in a long fight, according to Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. See how your senator voted.

"They may have cleared the first hurdle by the skin of their teeth, but this thing isn't over, not by a long shot," Schlickeisen said. "Every step they take from here on out will just get harder. And because drilling supporters had such a tough time with the first move, we're energized to fight that much harder to make sure that, at the end of the day, the American people get their way and the Arctic Refuge remains protected."

The Senate voted 49-51 on Senator Maria Cantwell's (D-Wash.) amendment to strip Arctic Refuge drilling from the budget resolution. With the Senate closely divided on such a high-profile issue, including it in the larger budget resolution could seriously damage the prospects of that bill as it passes through the Senate, the House-Senate conference and final passage in both chambers. Even then, this provision of the budget resolution will not go into effect unless it makes it into the final Budget Reconciliation bill later in the year, which must itself go through the same arduous process as the budget resolution itself. Congress hasn't managed to complete the budget process in the last two years; if that happens again, drilling backers will be back to square one.

Affiliated with Defenders of Wildlife, the Defenders Action Fund is 501(c)(4) organization created to provide the wildlife conservation community with a stronger voice in the political process. For more information, see www.defendersactionfund.org.