LCV Releases $550K TV Ad Campaign Urging Congress to Oppose Arctic Refuge Drilling

Nov 15, 2017

Alyssa Roberts, 202-454-4573, aroberts@lcv.org

Washington, D.C. – The League of Conservation Voters today announced a $550,000 TV ad campaign urging Congress to oppose Republican leadership’s attempt to drill in the iconic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as part of the tax bill. The ads are running in the DC market and the districts of Reps. Erik Paulsen (R, MN-3), Bruce Poliquin (R, ME-2) and John Katko (R, NY-24).

WATCH: “Thin Ice” (PaulsenPoliquinKatko)

“Destroying the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge through the Republican tax bill is reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible,” said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. “This scheme is nothing more than an attempt to secure Senator Murkowski’s vote for the tax bill by attaching a long-sought polar payout to Alaska and Big Oil. Members of Congress who support this special deal are undercutting our clean energy future and our public lands – they should know this is deeply unpopular and their constituents won’t turn the other way.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is slated to vote on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s bill to undermine 30 years of bipartisan opposition to Arctic Refuge drilling during a Wednesday markup. If passed, the bill can be incorporated into the Republican tax plan and pass the Senate with just 50 votes. The last time that the Arctic Refuge faced a threat this serious – in 2005 – a group of House Republicans banded together and successfully convinced leadership to remove the provision from a broader budget bill.

The Arctic Refuge is America’s most iconic wildlife refuge and one of the largest remaining intact ecosystems in the world. It has sustained the Gwich’in people for centuries, which is why they call it “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” The Arctic Refuge is also home to an incredible array of wildlife, including caribou, wolves, polar bears, and nearly 200 species of migratory birds.

The ads are part of LCV’s “Our Lands, Our Vote” campaign, which has been engaging people across the country to stand up for our public lands and waters since launching in June. LCV is running an ongoing campaign against drilling in the Arctic Refuge, which includes digital ads and grassroots organizing. The local TV ads call on constituents to contact Paulsen, Poliquin and Katko and ask them to oppose the Arctic drilling plan, while the DC ad draws attention to Republican leadership’s efforts to add drilling to the tax bill.

TRANSRIPT: “Thin Ice” (Paulsen)

It’s one of the last truly wild places on Earth: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But Erik Paulsen supports a tax scheme that could pollute it beyond repair with a backroom drilling deal for Big Oil in the Arctic — while giving tax breaks to billionaires and wealthy corporations.

But many middle-class taxes go up.

Tell Erik Paulsen, don’t go on thin ice. Vote no on Republican leaders’ tax scheme to drill the Arctic Refuge.