News: Media Center

WASHINGTON (December 21, 2005) -- The U.S. Senate today beat back yet another attempt to allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Following is a statement by NRDC Executive Director Frances Beinecke:

"The Senate should be congratulated for refusing to bend to pressures from special interests and defeating a cynical and abusive effort to stick drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge on must-pass legislation to provide funding for our nation's military. When all the chips were down, environmental champions came back and again defeated passage of a truly bad policy.

"Drilling proponents have tried time and again, using every legislative trick available, to gain congressional approval for their energy industry friends to explore the Arctic Refuge for oil and gas. In this case, the Senate made it clear that drilling should never have been attached to defense spending legislation. Today's vote should make it clear once and for all that the Arctic should be left alone when it comes to drilling.

"This vote is a decisive victory for our environment. And it was the right thing to do."

Related NRDC Pages
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: A Wilderness Worth Far More Than Oil

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1.2 million members and online activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.