Meeting at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia last week, activists gathered to send Senator Specter a list of 100 reasons Pennsylvanians oppose drilling in ANWR and to raise awareness of the debate. Previously, Specter had said he was surprised so many Pennsylvanians seemed concerned with the issue. Shana Starobin of the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group says just because Alaska is far away, doesn't mean Pennsylvanians don't care.

"We've been working together with local labor groups across the state, religious organizations, sportsman groups, to protect this refuge because we just think the arctic is a beautiful, pristine, wilderness area" says Starobin.

But some groups in the state say the economic benefits of drilling outweigh the environmental risks. John Schmitt, of the Teamsters Union, says opening up ANWR for drilling could mean jobs.

"Pennsylvania Vendors that do business in Alaska oil fields, right now there's more than 200 of them," says Schmitt. "Examples would be manufacturing of pipe and piping supplies, computer equipment and software, and oil and gas field equipment and supplies.

Schmitt says the number of jobs created would more than justify any environmental risks. He also says the amount of space that would be open for drilling would only be a small percentage of ANWR land and it would only be drilled in the winter.

Other proponents of drilling say it's not about jobs or wildlife, but national security. Bruce Harder, spokesperson for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, says "at this time with the war on terrorism on going and the instability in the middle east, it just makes good common sense to try to get ourselves in a position where we can use the reserves that we do have if we need them."

In addition to exploring domestic oil resources, Harder says the U.S. should look into alternatives such as wind and solar power as ways to reduce dependency on foreign fuel.

Emily Ferry, an organizer with the Alaska Coalition of Pennsylvania, agrees with Harder concerning the need to develop stronger alternative energy strategies. But she says that wind and solar power should be looked at as alternatives to drilling in ANWR, not in conjunction with it. Ferry says the bill up for debate in the Senate this week is crucial.

"We had Representative Greenwood, who's a Republican from Pennsylvania, vote to protect the arctic refuge" says Ferry. "And in the Senate, there's many Republicans that are standing up and saying 'no, it's not worth drilling here, it's not worth the loss of this wild area.'"

Ferry says Specter should stand with those in his party that have voted against drilling in the past, and who have announced publicly that they are against it. Ferry and other participants at the rally urged visitors to contact Specter's office and make their opinions known before the Senate begins discussion of the energy bill this Tuesday.