Arctic Vote Update

Hadar Susskind
COEJL Washington Representative

Washington, D.C. (March 17, 2005) - Many of you have probably heard about yesterday’s vote in the U.S. Senate on the future of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Despite all of our best efforts and those of many other religious and environmental organizations, the Senate voted 51-49 to keep language in the Federal budget resolution that would permit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. While we are discouraged by this vote, we are far from defeated.

Yesterday’s Senate action is only the first step in a long process. While we also expect the House of Representatives to include an Arctic oil drilling provision its budget resolution, the House and Senate must still reconcile their respective versions and then each pass the agreed upon legislation again before sending the bill to the President. This can be a difficult and protracted process that Congress has not successfully completed during the past two years. We will ample opportunity to continue our efforts and make our voices heard. In his famous work, Guide for the Perplexed, the Rambam, known to some as Maimonides, writes:

“It should not be believed that all the beings exist for the sake of the existence of humanity. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes, and not for the sake of something else.”