copy > paste.....
From : <AlertList@suwa.org>
Sent : Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:52 AM
To : AlertList@suwa.org
Subject : TAKE ACTION NOW TO OPPOSE BAD ENERGY BILL
| | | Inbox
================================================================
This alert is brought to you by the Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance
425 E. 100 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111, 801-486-3161,
www.suwa.org
================================================================
*****URGENT ACTION NEEDED*****
ENERGY VOTE IMMINENT: Tell your Senators and your Representative
to oppose the Energy Bill Today!
"[T]his energy bill is not about American independence. It is an
embrace of our dependence on the greedy and short-sighted oil
industry." Salt Lake Tribune editorial July 28, 2005
At 3:00 a.m. this past Tuesday morning, a select committee of
Senate and House members finished piecing together the final
language of Congress' 2005 Energy Bill. With this policy, H.R. 6,
Congress has categorically failed to lead the nation away from
our dependence on fossil fuels and towards a self-sustainable
future. The House will vote at 2:30 today on the Energy Bill and
the Senate is expected to follow in the next couple of days. It
is critical that you, as Utah wilderness advocates, contact your
Senators and Representative today.
The energy policy established by the Energy Bill Conference
Committee reaffirms the role of oil and gas as the number one
priority of America's public lands. With Utah's remarkable
wilderness lands already under intense pressure from the energy
industry, H.R. 6 promises to tip the scales even further in favor
of the oil and gas companies. H.R. 6 provides lavish and
unnecessary tax incentives to the oil and gas industry, even
though the oil and gas companies are reaping record profits from
their operations on public lands.
The Bill also opens the door for a variety of loopholes that will
allow industry to circumvent environmental and public review for
energy projects. Many of you may remember our earlier alert
concerning a dangerous new exemption proposed to National
Environmental Policy Act or "NEPA." While the final Bill was
greatly improved by the Herculean efforts of SUWA members and
other like-minded individuals from across the country to remove a
provision which would rollback environmental safeguards under
National Environmental Policy Act or "NEPA" (the primary tool for
citizens to comment on energy projects on public land), it
includes radical changes to how industry complies with NEPA and
likewise makes it harder for members of the public to participate
and review a variety of common energy activities.
Furthermore, the Bill will cut the legs out from the Clean Water
Act and Safe Drinking Water Act for oil and gas projects,
creating an unnecessary threat to the health of Western
communities. Finally, Congress has mandated rapid commercial
development of oil shale/tar sand resources on the public lands
of the Colorado Plateau, despite the economic and environmental
devastation left in the wake of previous efforts to pursue this
costly product. The energy industry is not yet sure if their
technology for this resource is up to par and cost-efficient, yet
the federal government intends to prod them into production
anyway.
WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW TO HELP STOP H.R.6 FROM BEING SIGNED INTO
LAW......
Last year, Senate opponents successfully prevented Congress from
pushing forward with a harmful energy bill. Once again, many
members of the Senate are unhappy about the path this bill will
set us on. Each Senate member has the ability to stop this bill,
and they need to hear from you now so they can take a stand for
our public lands. The public should be concerned that Congress
is taking up energy legislation without adequate time to review
the 1,700 plus page bill and understand the impact these new
policies will have.
PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL YOUR SENATORS/REPRESENTATIVE, AND URGE THEM
TO DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO OPPOSE H.R.6
YOU CAN CALL THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD NOW AT (202) 224-3121 AND
ASK TO BE CONNECTED TO THE APPROPRIATE OFFICE,
OR USE THE FOLLOWING LINK TO FIND YOUR SENATOR'S AND
REPRESENTATIVE'S EMAIL ADDRESS:
http://capwiz.com/awc/dbq/officials/
A QUICK PHONECALL WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO TAKE ACTION ON THIS,
AS THE VOTE IS HAPPENING TODAY. IF YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE AN EMAIL,
HERE IS A SAMPLE LETTER YOU CAN USE TO COMPOSE YOUR EMAIL, OR AS
TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR PHONECALL.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Senator/Representative:
Please oppose H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2006. America
deserves sensible energy legislation that reduces our dependence
on fossil fuels, advances clean renewable energy, and ensures a
healthy environment for future generations. H.R. 6 lacks the
kind of visionary energy policy that our country needs. Rather
than resolving a path for energy independence and lower prices
for consumers, the legislation threatens to rollback several
public health and environmental protections while dolling out
billions to one of America's most well heeled and profitable
industries.
Under H.R. 6, public lands, including many spectacular wilderness
landscapes in Utah and across the inter-mountain west, would be
the target for increased oil and gas exploration and development.
A provision in the energy bill weakens the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), making it more difficult for the public to
have meaningful participation on energy projects that impact
their communities. NEPA has long been a common sense approach
that ensures public involvement and the public's right to know
about projects that affect our environment. By including this
environmental rollback, H.R. 6 weakens the public's ability to
get involved in critical land management decision.
Our environment and public health are further threatened by oil
and gas industry exemptions from the Safe Drinking Water Act and
Clean Water Act. Specifically, the energy bill threatens
drinking water by amending the Safe Drinking Water Act to allow
the underground injection of dangerous chemicals during oil and
gas development and during geothermal energy development. It
also grants the oil and gas industries an exemption for their
construction activities from having to comply with Clean Water
Act provisions that require all types of construction activities
to reduce polluted runoff from these sites.
The American public also loses out at the hands of the energy
industries who would gain billions in special interest subsidies.
Even President Bush has admitted that the handouts to the oil and
gas industry will not lower the price of gas or have any real
impact on the energy crisis we are facing. By approving the
Energy Bill, Congress will have failed in guiding our nation to
energy independence.
I urge you to oppose this misguided energy legislation and to
support solutions that will protect our public lands and advance
clean renewable energy while allowing reasonable and
environmentally responsible development.
Sincerely,
Your name & address (so they know you are a constituent)
THANK YOU!!
From : <AlertList@suwa.org>
Sent : Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:52 AM
To : AlertList@suwa.org
Subject : TAKE ACTION NOW TO OPPOSE BAD ENERGY BILL
| | | Inbox
================================================================
This alert is brought to you by the Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance
425 E. 100 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111, 801-486-3161,
www.suwa.org
================================================================
*****URGENT ACTION NEEDED*****
ENERGY VOTE IMMINENT: Tell your Senators and your Representative
to oppose the Energy Bill Today!
"[T]his energy bill is not about American independence. It is an
embrace of our dependence on the greedy and short-sighted oil
industry." Salt Lake Tribune editorial July 28, 2005
At 3:00 a.m. this past Tuesday morning, a select committee of
Senate and House members finished piecing together the final
language of Congress' 2005 Energy Bill. With this policy, H.R. 6,
Congress has categorically failed to lead the nation away from
our dependence on fossil fuels and towards a self-sustainable
future. The House will vote at 2:30 today on the Energy Bill and
the Senate is expected to follow in the next couple of days. It
is critical that you, as Utah wilderness advocates, contact your
Senators and Representative today.
The energy policy established by the Energy Bill Conference
Committee reaffirms the role of oil and gas as the number one
priority of America's public lands. With Utah's remarkable
wilderness lands already under intense pressure from the energy
industry, H.R. 6 promises to tip the scales even further in favor
of the oil and gas companies. H.R. 6 provides lavish and
unnecessary tax incentives to the oil and gas industry, even
though the oil and gas companies are reaping record profits from
their operations on public lands.
The Bill also opens the door for a variety of loopholes that will
allow industry to circumvent environmental and public review for
energy projects. Many of you may remember our earlier alert
concerning a dangerous new exemption proposed to National
Environmental Policy Act or "NEPA." While the final Bill was
greatly improved by the Herculean efforts of SUWA members and
other like-minded individuals from across the country to remove a
provision which would rollback environmental safeguards under
National Environmental Policy Act or "NEPA" (the primary tool for
citizens to comment on energy projects on public land), it
includes radical changes to how industry complies with NEPA and
likewise makes it harder for members of the public to participate
and review a variety of common energy activities.
Furthermore, the Bill will cut the legs out from the Clean Water
Act and Safe Drinking Water Act for oil and gas projects,
creating an unnecessary threat to the health of Western
communities. Finally, Congress has mandated rapid commercial
development of oil shale/tar sand resources on the public lands
of the Colorado Plateau, despite the economic and environmental
devastation left in the wake of previous efforts to pursue this
costly product. The energy industry is not yet sure if their
technology for this resource is up to par and cost-efficient, yet
the federal government intends to prod them into production
anyway.
WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW TO HELP STOP H.R.6 FROM BEING SIGNED INTO
LAW......
Last year, Senate opponents successfully prevented Congress from
pushing forward with a harmful energy bill. Once again, many
members of the Senate are unhappy about the path this bill will
set us on. Each Senate member has the ability to stop this bill,
and they need to hear from you now so they can take a stand for
our public lands. The public should be concerned that Congress
is taking up energy legislation without adequate time to review
the 1,700 plus page bill and understand the impact these new
policies will have.
PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL YOUR SENATORS/REPRESENTATIVE, AND URGE THEM
TO DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER TO OPPOSE H.R.6
YOU CAN CALL THE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD NOW AT (202) 224-3121 AND
ASK TO BE CONNECTED TO THE APPROPRIATE OFFICE,
OR USE THE FOLLOWING LINK TO FIND YOUR SENATOR'S AND
REPRESENTATIVE'S EMAIL ADDRESS:
http://capwiz.com/awc/dbq/officials/
A QUICK PHONECALL WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO TAKE ACTION ON THIS,
AS THE VOTE IS HAPPENING TODAY. IF YOU CHOOSE TO WRITE AN EMAIL,
HERE IS A SAMPLE LETTER YOU CAN USE TO COMPOSE YOUR EMAIL, OR AS
TALKING POINTS FOR YOUR PHONECALL.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Senator/Representative:
Please oppose H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2006. America
deserves sensible energy legislation that reduces our dependence
on fossil fuels, advances clean renewable energy, and ensures a
healthy environment for future generations. H.R. 6 lacks the
kind of visionary energy policy that our country needs. Rather
than resolving a path for energy independence and lower prices
for consumers, the legislation threatens to rollback several
public health and environmental protections while dolling out
billions to one of America's most well heeled and profitable
industries.
Under H.R. 6, public lands, including many spectacular wilderness
landscapes in Utah and across the inter-mountain west, would be
the target for increased oil and gas exploration and development.
A provision in the energy bill weakens the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), making it more difficult for the public to
have meaningful participation on energy projects that impact
their communities. NEPA has long been a common sense approach
that ensures public involvement and the public's right to know
about projects that affect our environment. By including this
environmental rollback, H.R. 6 weakens the public's ability to
get involved in critical land management decision.
Our environment and public health are further threatened by oil
and gas industry exemptions from the Safe Drinking Water Act and
Clean Water Act. Specifically, the energy bill threatens
drinking water by amending the Safe Drinking Water Act to allow
the underground injection of dangerous chemicals during oil and
gas development and during geothermal energy development. It
also grants the oil and gas industries an exemption for their
construction activities from having to comply with Clean Water
Act provisions that require all types of construction activities
to reduce polluted runoff from these sites.
The American public also loses out at the hands of the energy
industries who would gain billions in special interest subsidies.
Even President Bush has admitted that the handouts to the oil and
gas industry will not lower the price of gas or have any real
impact on the energy crisis we are facing. By approving the
Energy Bill, Congress will have failed in guiding our nation to
energy independence.
I urge you to oppose this misguided energy legislation and to
support solutions that will protect our public lands and advance
clean renewable energy while allowing reasonable and
environmentally responsible development.
Sincerely,
Your name & address (so they know you are a constituent)
THANK YOU!!