DemocracyRules.org - Electing Issues
Trustee Elections
These are the original issues in this subcategory
  • GREEN NEW DEAL
  • CARBON TAX
  • ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Winning Issue » ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE


The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a 19-million-acre wildlife refuge located on the coastal plain of Alaska’s North Slope. Environmentalists say that ANWR is one of the last pristine wilderness areas remaining on Earth. They want this extraordinary and untouched ecosystem to be protected forever. Wildlife such as polar, black and grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, seabirds and golden eagles all call ANWR home. Advocates say that ANWR is our only conservation area with a complete range of arctic ecosystems including coast, tundra, mountains and taiga and boreal forests. The question of whether to drill for oil in this preserve has been an ongoing controversy for over 40 years. What is not in dispute is the amount of oil that lies beneath this refuge. Estimates show that ANWWR contains about 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil and could yield more than 800 million barrels of oil per year.

In a recent executive action, President Biden permanently banned drilling in more than 10 million acres of Alaska’s North Slope from oil development, including ANWR. It canceled oil and gas leases in the federal wildlife refuge which were bought by an Alaska state development agency on the final day of the Trump Administration. However, Alaska has threatened a lawsuit over this action and future administrations could also overturn it.

Drilling opponents claim environmental damage will occur not only during drilling operations, but when storing and transporting oil, disposing of wastes, and constructing roads, buildings, airstrips and ports - to say nothing of the potential for oil spills.

Drilling proponents counter that great precautions were taken to protect the environment and wildlife during the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. They claim oil can be safely extracted from ANWR in a way that does not destroy its beauty.

Pending Legislation: H.R.724 - Arctic Refuge Protection Act
Sponsor: Rep. Jared Huffman (CA)
Status: House Subcommittee on Federal Lands (Natural Resources)
Chairperson: Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI)



Options


  • I oppose reforming current Arctic National Wildlife Refuge policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Mike Johnson (LA).
  • I support designating approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.


Winning Option
  • I support designating approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.
There has been $0.00 pledged in support of this issue
Trustee Candidates

If elected as a trustee, the campaign committee of Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI) will be unconditionally awarded the funds pledged to this issue along with a letter requesting him to favorably consider passing H.R.724 - Arctic Refuge Protection Act.

If elected as a trustee, The Wilderness Society will be awarded the funds pledged to this issue along with a letter requesting these funds be used to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for future generations.

Mission: Uniting people to protect America’s wild places. Since 1935, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness in 44 states. We have been at the forefront of nearly every major public lands victory. We are committed to the ideal that wilderness and all public lands can bring people and communities together and that everyone should share equitably in their benefits.
To participate in the Trustee Election you must first pledge support to this issue.
Click here if you wish to make a pledge.
Trustee Election - Opening Date
November 11, 2024
Trustee Election - Closing Date
November 18, 2024