The League of Conservation Voters : Support a Cleaner, Smarter Energy Future

Re: Support a Cleaner, Smarter Energy Future

Dear Senator:

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental community. Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of Members of Congress on environmental legislation. The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the press.

LCV believes that the energy bill introduced by Senators Daschle (D-SD) and Bingaman (D-NM) represents an important step towards a cleaner, smarter energy future. As this bill reaches the Senate floor, however, we urge you to vote against any amendments that would weaken S. 517 and to support amendments to strengthen the bill.

We urge you to block any and all efforts to drill in any portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. With nearly 95 percent of Alaska’s North Slope available for oil and natural gas exploration and development, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains the lone refuge for hundreds of species of wildlife including caribou and polar bears. Habitat destruction associated with oil development, not to mention air and water pollution and oil spills, could irreversibly compromise this globally important ecosystem. LCV strongly opposes efforts to open the Arctic Refuge for exploration or development under the pretext of meeting the energy needs of Americans. The amount of oil that lies beneath the refuge is minimal compared to our national energy needs, and development of the coastal plain will not impact oil supplies until far into the future. Even then, economists argue, refuge oil would do nothing to lower energy costs for consumers or to reduce U.S. dependence on imports.

In 1991, when the Senate considered energy legislation that included a provision to allow drilling in the Arctic Refuge, LCV scored the vote twice. This issue is of such significance to the environmental community that LCV will consider double-scoring votes on drilling in the Arctic Refuge in the 2002 Scorecard.

LCV believes that the best way to reduce our dependence on oil is to increase the fuel economy standards for new cars and light trucks. America’s cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and other light trucks consume 8 million barrels of oil every day—some 40 percent of U.S. oil consumption—and emit 20 percent of America’s carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming. LCV strongly supports the Kerry (D-MA)/Hollings (D-SC) proposal that is included in the bill to raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 35 mpg by 2013, and urge you to oppose any efforts to weaken this provision, or weaken Clean Air Act standards to allow more pollution from dirty diesel vehicles.

Other important issues are likely to arise during the Senate debate on energy policy. LCV supports the adoption of a renewable energy portfolio standard that would require that 20 percent of electricity come from renewable sources by 2020 and opposes any efforts to weaken the 10 percent standard now in the bill. We urge you to vote to protect sensitive public lands—in addition to the Arctic Refuge—from energy development and to oppose efforts to “streamline” energy permitting on public lands by waiving environmental laws and regulations. We support the expanded subsidies to encourage development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, but oppose the subsidies for polluting energy sources such as oil, coal and nuclear included in the Finance Committee bill and the extension of the nuclear subsidy known as the Price Anderson Act that will be offered as a floor amendments to S. 517. And we oppose efforts by the hydropower industry to weaken environmental provisions of the Federal Power Act that protect aquatic resources.

As the Senate debates each of these issues within the larger energy bill, LCV will be advising members of its position on individual amendments. LCV's Political Advisory Committee will consider including votes on these issues in compiling LCV's 2002 Scorecard. If you need more information, please call Betsy Loyless in my office at (202) 785-8683.