Dozens of environmental advocates gathered in front of Congressmember John Katko’s office today urging him to oppose a proposal that would open the door to oil and gas drilling in part of the arctic national wildlife refuge. The measure is included in the tax reform bill being debated this week in congress.
Co-organizer of the rally Tara Miller with the group Defenders of Wildlife says any move to allow drilling off the pristine north slope of Alaska does not belong in the budget.
"It's just an excuse to stick in a controversial environmental rider...an issue that's been debated for decades. They're just banking on the fact that Americans aren't paying attention...that tax reform is huge, and they can just slide Arctic drilling in when people won't notice."
She says drilling would displace polar bears who are using the coast to den as the ice continues to melt. And, it would disrupt the native Gwich’in community, which relies on the plain for subsistence. SUNY ESF Professor Emeritus Chad Dawson spent his career studying wilderness.
"If you have the ability to be in the Arctic as I have. If you've been able to be in Alaska, and see this great landscape...it's the last great wilderness that we have...not only in North America, but on the planet. It's something worth saving, it's something worth leaving for the next generations."
The language for arctic drilling actually was not included in the original tax reform bill that passed with Katko’s support earlier this month. But it is in the Senate version, and could come back when it’s conferenced with the House. Katko has said he wouldn’t support such a rider, which is why Sierra Club Organizer David Alicea says that’s why they’re trying to get his attention.
"Not too far away, we have the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. If we set the precedent that we can easily open up these refuges to drilling or for any for-profit reason, it really puts at risk other wildlife regues, including the ones in Congressman Katko's district."
The advocates want Katko do to more than just vote against the bill; general counsel for the Onondaga Nation Joe Heath says they want him to lead by taking a public stand for the environment and against big energy.
"We have to change the paradigm now. Decisions about energy and production must be made on the basis of sustainability, not on the basis of profit. We have to leave the oil and gas and coal in the ground because the rest of the world is moving on."
A final vote on the tax reform bill is expected this week; it remains to be seen if it will include the rider to allow drilling in the Arctic.
