Wendy Cramer and David Wilby, 1991-1996

Arranged alphabetically. Wendy Cramer worked on energy issues from 1991-1993, and David Wilby worked on them from 1993-1996. Records in this group document issues such as · Energy conservation, efficiency, and assistance. Cohen was a strong advocate for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). In 1993, he protested proposals by the Department of Health and Human Services to significantly reduce this funding, and in 1994 he urged the Department of Health and Human Services to release emergency fuel funds to provide needed assistance to Maine citizens who were affected by the unusually cold winter. · Controversy over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Due to a federal Wilderness designation, nearly half of this refuge (8 million acres) was closed to development. In 1987, the Department of the Interior concluded that the Coastal Plain area of the Refuge was the nation's "best single opportunity to increase domestic oil production." Records here document the controversy over this proposal, and efforts made by environmental groups to block drilling on the Coastal Plain. · The National Energy Security Act of 1991 (S. 1220). This act was designed to strike a balanced approach to energy problems by striving to reduce energy consumption and raise domestic energy production. Title XV of this act included much-debated provisions concerning the reform of a 56 year old law entitled the Public Utility Holding Company Act. This reform was designed to bring competition to the generation of wholesale electric power, and protests concerning this came from several quarters.

Records consist of correspondence from organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, the League of Conservation Voters, and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, as well as memos, news-clippings, and reports.