New bipartisan House bill would protect Arctic Refuge from oil drilling
Conservationists grateful to Reps. Huffman and Fitzpatrick for move to restore public-land protections
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 11, 2019) – Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) today introduced a bipartisan bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to restore protections to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. These protections were previously repealed as part of the passage of the controversial tax package in December 2017, which contained a provision to allow oil drilling on the refuge’s coastal plain.
In response, The Wilderness Society released the following statement from its president, Jamie Williams:
“The Arctic Refuge is one of America’s most majestic places and essential to the survival of Native communities in Alaska. We are deeply grateful to Representatives Huffman and Fitzpatrick for introducing the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act. This is a necessary step toward correcting the 2017 tax package that opened the refuge to drilling. The 2017 rider was an egregious abuse of the federal budgeting process, and we now call on Congress to pass this bipartisan bill before the Trump Administration wreaks permanent damage by trying to industrialize the refuge this year.”
“The coastal plain is home to Porcupine Caribou Herd, polar bears, musk oxen, wolves and nearly 200 species of birds. It is also sacred to Alaska’s indigenous Gwich’in people. A land so special is no place for oil and gas development.”
Tony Iallonardo, Tony_Iallonardo@tws.org, 202-503-8581
Tim Woody, (907) 223-2443, tim_woody@tws.org
The Wilderness Society is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. www.wilderness.org.
