Russ Feingold: “last month people from across the country converged on Washington to send a clear message to Congress in opposition to…”

“last month people from across the country converged on Washington to send a clear message to Congress in opposition to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sadly, yesterday's action by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee flies in the face of that grassroots movement. And on top of this, the committee failed to accept commonsense amendments that would have required that drilling in the Arctic follow the same rules as drilling in all other wildlife refuges, insisted that oil taken from the refuge stay in the hands of Americans, and guaranteed what Senators have been told all along--that 50 percent of the revenues from leases would go to the Federal Treasury, despite public suggestions by Members of the Alaska delegation that the State would sue to get 90 percent of all revenues. There is no doubt that as a nation, we face tough questions about our energy policy. Sacrificing one of America's greatest natural treasures, however, to access a supply of oil that may not last more than a year, wouldn't be available for many years to come, and would decrease gas prices by only a penny at its highest production, is simply not the answer. A responsible, well-thought-out national energy policy that moves us away from our dependence on a finite resource such as oil is the answer, and I regret that we don't have such a policy.…”