TODAY'S FEATURED ARTICLES
- March 18-20: The World Says End the War!, unitedforpeace.org
- Senate Votes to Keep Arctic Drilling Language in Budget!, Alaskan Wilderness League
- Letter From Barbara Boxer Regarding the ANWR Vote
- RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE: Running on empty, By Robert Bryce, Salon.com
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"In 1988, our people became aware of oil companies trying to gain access to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Oil development there would harm the caribou and threaten our future. So we gathered for the first time in over a hundred years in Arctic Village. The Gwich'in Nation was reborn. Everyone spoke resolutely about how important the caribou are to our culture. At the end of the gathering, we spoke with one voice, one mind and one heart with a renewed commitment to protect our way of life for future generations. We came up with the Gwich'in Nintsyaa-a unified standing resolution calling for permanent protection of the Porcupine Caribou Herd birthplace. The Gwich'in Steering Committee was created. The elders said, 'Go and tell everyone how we live, and why we take this position. Do it in a good way, and we will be successful.'"
- - - - Faith Gemmill (Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee)
Visit The Gwich'in Steering Committee AT: http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin/index.html
KNOW YOUR HISTORY:
March 18th
1967 -- England: The first big oil spill: US supertanker "Torrey
Canyon" runs aground off Land's End, releasing 119,000 tons of oil. 90,000 tons wash up on Devon, Cornwall.
RHINO SEZ:
On Wednesday, a hell of a lot happened, but the tri-letter media covered approximately
half the action. They were so focused on the trials of Robert Blake, Michael
Jackson & Scott Peterson, that unless you're the type of person who works
at it to be sure you don't join the ranks of the dumbed down American populace,
you wouldn't have known that the shrub gang
had taken 4 major steps forward in their march toward their pseudo-religious
corporate-fascist takeover; those being 1) the US Congress voting for BILLIONS
more taxpayer dollars toward their war for oil in Iraq,
2) the nomination by dubya of
the primary architect of the Iraq war, Paul (spit in my hair) Wolfowitz,
to head up The
World Bank, 3) the appointment of Kevin
Martin, a darling of the fundamentalist
christian right (who would Jesus bomb?) crowd to the Chairmanship of the FCC,
and lastly but not least, 4) the US Senate voting to leave language in the
2006 budget to allow the oil industry to trash & drill in America's last great
wilderness,
The Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
It's the last item to which I devote today's blog. See below for 2 items suggesting how to continue the fight against the drilling, and an excellent Salon piece on how "leading energy analysts who foretold Enron's demise have an alarming new claim: The world's major oil companies are almost tapped out."
Regarding the war, thousands around the country & the world will be in the streets this weekend (March 18-20) to mark the 2 year anniversary of the U.S. bombing & invasion of Iraq. At least 726 U.S. towns in all 50 states will hold anti-war events, more than double the number of anti-war actions on the 1st anniversary of the war last year.
Rhino sez, "See you out there!"
(o/)(o/)(o/)
March 18-20: The World Says End the War!
MARCH 18-20: GLOBAL DAYS OF PROTEST
ON THE TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE IRAQ WAR
* End the War / Bring the Troops Home Now / Rebuild Our Communities *
ACTION INFO AT: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2688
(o/)(o/)(o/)
Senate Votes to Keep Arctic Drilling Language in Budget!
Cantwell Budget Amendment Fails 49-51 Vote
Alaskan Wilderness League, 3/17/05
Today an amendment to keep oil drilling out of the Arctic Refuge was narrowly defeated in the Senate by a vote of 49 to 51. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) offered the amendment, cosponsored by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), to reject a sneak attack on the Arctic by burying drilling language in the federal budget. This battle is far from over. This is just the beginning, and there is a long way to go before the drilling rigs make it into the Arctic Refuge. Alaska Wilderness League will be working with members of both parties in both Houses of Congress to keep Arctic drilling out of the final budget...
MORE INFO & RESOURCES AT:
http://www.alaskawild.org/campaigns_arctic_hellweek_alert.html
Top 10 Distortions of the Senate Floor Debate AT:
http://www.alaskawild.org/campaigns_arctic_top10.html
(o/)(o/)(o/)
Letter From Barbara Boxer Regarding the ANWR Vote
Today, my heart is heavy. By just two votes, we came up short in our effort to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to over 150 wildlife species. ... I want you to know that I won't give up in our fight to stop the drilling. And neither should you. I'm going to use every legislative tool at my disposal to reverse this vote and prevent this terrible policy from going into effect. But we can do more -- today. I'm planning to organize a consumer boycott of any oil company that decides to drill in this pristine Alaskan wilderness area. If, through our pocketbooks, we can convince these companies to do the right thing, we can still save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the destruction that would be wrought by the oil drilling rigs.
Send an email to the CEOs of ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch/Shell, and ChevronTexaco now and tell them to stay out of ANWR!
And then invite everyone you know to join us. This battle is not over -- not by a long shot.
In Friendship, Senator Barbara Boxer
SEND LETTERS EASILY AT:
http://ga4.org/campaign/boycott/3k8ub84vjkj3dw
(o/)(o/)(o/)
12:30:18 PM 
|
|
