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April 9, 2003 Dear
Member of Congress: On
behalf of the nearly 300,000 members of the National Grange, I would like to commend
you for your leadership in the fight against terrorism and to secure our nation's
freedom. One important area of strategic vulnerability that our nation faces in
this fight is our reliance on imported oil. Currently the House of Representatives
is considering a bi-partisan, comprehensive National Energy Plan that will meet
the goal of reducing our nation's dependence on imported petroleum. At this critical
juncture, it is important that you weigh-in publicly and strongly to support opening
the coastal plain region of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil
and gas exploration in an environmentally responsible manner. The
House Resources committee legislation contains a major provision to authorize
the exploration and production of the petroleum resources of the Coastal Plain
region of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in an environmentally sound
manner. The environmental impact of this development would be nominal, impacting
2,000 acres or less. However, the ANWR region could contribute more than 1 million
barrels of oil a day to our national energy security. In addition, Secretary of
the Interior, Gail Norton has recently testified that the Bush Administration
supports additional provisions to dedicate a portion of the royalty revenues that
the Federal government will receive from ANWR to the research and development
of renewable energy resources, including energy resources that can be produced
from our nation's farms and forests. Given
our dependence on foreign oil, it is important that major domestic production
incentive programs be included in the final House legislation. The National Grange
strongly urges you to support adoption of balanced national energy legislation
that includes the development of the petroleum resources from the ANWR during
this session of Congress. Sincerely,
Leroy Watson,
Legislative Director
National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry
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