We may have lost the battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the House last Thursday, but there's no question we are winning the war. The House voted 225-201 on H.R. 5429 to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. But here's the real news: 30 Republicans voted to save the Arctic! And so did a handful of Democrats who voted for Arctic drilling in the past. So even though 27 Democrats voted with the oil industry, we still tallied the largest number of votes against Arctic drilling in recent years.

To see how your representative voted go to: http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/arcticvote.asp

Bottom line: even in the face of rising gas prices, more and more members of Congress are tiring of the same old drilling scheme that benefits only the oil companies and does nothing to lower gas prices or solve our long-term energy problems.

Make no mistake: House leaders know full well that this bill is highly unlikely to pass the Senate, where members from both parties have blocked Arctic drilling in the past. The only reason they rushed this bill to a vote was to give the appearance of doing something -- anything -- about rising gas prices.But the American people are no longer fooled by empty political stunts -- and neither are a growing number of Representatives.

Thanks to thousands of phone calls last week from online activists like you, the tide is turning our way even in the House of Representatives, where Big Oil has tremendous clout. This vote was meant to be an overwhelming show of support for the drill-it-all solution to America's energy problems. Instead, it revealed the ever-shrinking base of support for Big Oil's agenda.

Congress is finally getting the message: it had better start finding real ways to end our nation's addiction to oil -- or they will be held accountable back home. Thank you again for doing your part to save America's greatest sanctuary for Arctic wildlife.