EMS Press Breakfast On Arctic Drilling to Precede Gale Norton Testimony in Congress

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EMS Press Breakfast On Arctic Drilling to Precede Gale Norton Testimony in Congress

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Jul. 9 -/E-Wire/-- On Wednesday, July 11, the House Resources Committee will hold a hearing on whether to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Interior Secretary Gale Norton will testify in favor of drilling, to which the Bush administration remains committed.

At an 8:30 a.m. EMS press breakfast preceding the hearing on Wednesday, leading Alaskan wildlife biologists and Arctic experts will summarize the most current research on the impacts of oil drilling on polar bears, caribou and other wildlife that rely on the Arctic refuge for survival. Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen, just back from a fact-finding trip to the Arctic refuge with members of Congress, will describe their findings. The breakfast will end promptly at 9:30, giving reporters time to attend the 10 a.m. House hearing.

Despite recent predictions that Arctic drilling will fail to win congressional approval, the outcome remains uncertain. Norton made her second visit to the refuge last month and said the administration is determined to allow drilling there. And Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) announced at a July 3 press conference in Anchorage that he believes there are now 51 votes in the Senate in favor of drilling.

The Los Angeles Times on July 5 reported that this year's caribou calving season in the refuge has been a disaster. "It's one of the worst years we've ever seen in the 30 years we've been looking at the herd in detail," biologist Ken Whitten, a speaker at the press breakfast, told the Times. "The calf survival rate is way below normal, and probably not enough to sustain the herd."

What: EMS Press Breakfast on Oil Drilling and Arctic Wildlife Who: Kenneth Whitten, caribou biologist, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game (retired) Jack Lentfer, polar bear biologist, Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game (retired) Rodger Schlickeisen, president, Defenders of Wildlife

When: 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 11 Where: The Nest, mezzanine level, the Willard Hotel, 14th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.

Environmental Media Services

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