EMERGENCY: Senate greenlights Arctic drilling

Dear folks, The fight is on. Congress is on track to declare the irreplaceable Arctic National Wildlife Refuge open for business for oil and gas drilling by the end of this year. In a shameful ploy by Congress, the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain is being offered up to ruin by attaching drilling authorization to the tax reform bill that just passed in the Senate. Now all that stands between the refuge and destruction is the negotiations to hammer out finalized legislation. ACT NOW: Take our Triple Match Challenge and your donation to help Defenders fight back will be TRIPLED. Every year, the Porcupine caribou herd makes the 400-mile journey to its traditional calving grounds in the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge – the Coastal Plain. Those grounds would be carved up to make way for oil industry infrastructure. Imperiled polar bears have become increasingly dependent on the Coastal Plain as a crucial denning area to raise their cubs, since their sea ice habitats are melting more rapidly each year. Soon, mother polar bears with infant cubs could be left with nowhere to go. Hundreds of species of migratory birds, from all over the planet, find refuge in the Coastal Plain. But their once vast sanctuary could become inhospitable terrain. Brown bears, wolves, musk oxen, Arctic foxes, wolverines and so many more wildlife species that live in the Arctic Refuge could soon find their home fragmented and taken over by Big Oil. Help us fight to keep the Arctic Refuge a place for wildlife. Make an emergency gift to our Defend America’s Wildlife campaign and it will be matched 2-for-1, up to a total of $150,000. Turning the Arctic Refuge into a fossil-fuel wasteland is what the Trump administration and anti-wildlife members of Congress see as progress. This kind of thinking would destroy our wild places, doom wildlife and ultimately jeopardize our own future. We won’t let oil industry greed destroy this haven for wildlife, and we know you won’t either. Give today and your contribution will have triple the impact for wildlife at risk. Take the Triple Match Challenge today and pledge your support to Defend America's Wildlife. Sincerely, Jamie Rappaport Clark President, Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities >> Defenders of Wildlife | 1130 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 | defenders.org Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. Photo credit: Arctic Fox (c) Bruce Faanes © Copyright 2017 Defenders of Wildlife