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Alaskan wildlife refuge must be saved

by Open-Publishing - Tuesday 15 March 2005
10 comments

Edito International Environment

by CHRISTINE FIORDALIS

Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is again on the table in Congress, this time in the budget bill. How many times must Americans say it? Leave our wilderness alone!

Human beings need wilderness and open space. Some years ago, a friend teaching at a rural Michigan campus invited high schoolers from Detroit to study ecology. At first, the students were frightened and hesitant but the woods slowly drew them out. They found things, camped out, stalked deer, sat and gazed and grew. Nature changed them as much as any classroom, and without speaking a word to them.

The natural world sustains us all and not just with food and shelter. We prove this when we "move out’’ to the suburbs, take vacations to national parks, and envision bubbling brooks when we are stressed out. Our American "can do’’ independence results in large part from living in a country with rich open space. We reflect our land. Places like the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge embody the heart of our land. They are places from which we draw strength as a people and renew our national soul as well as our individual spirits. We may never set foot on the great coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, but we are nonetheless enriched by its presence.

Oil companies contend that new techniques will not harm the habitat and wildlife of this fragile area. This is simply not true. Estimates suggest the need for 50-60 gravel drill sites and waste pits; three production facilities; three sea water treatment plants; three airports; 280 miles of roads, 10-15 gravel excavation sites; 150 miles of pipelines; and two solid waste disposal dumps. The list goes on, to say nothing of the inevitable toxic spills of oil and waste (Prudehoe Bay averages a spill a day).

Proponents of drilling argue that we need this oil for national security. Really? The U.S. Geological Survey concluded that, if there is substantial oil in the Refuge (there’s only a 50-50 chance there is enough to justify extraction costs), the amount will feed our "oil appetite’’ for only six to nine months. Oil executives have testified it will be seven to 10 years before the oil can be processed and made available. Will our national security needs wait?

And what are our national security needs? America uses about 25 percent of the world’s available oil but has only 3 percent of the known reserves. Some people, such as U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., suggest that obtaining oil from the refuge will decrease our dependence on foreign oil.

Recently, he said, "Our dependence on oil from the Middle East represents a grave national security threat.’’ He should consider that we presently import only 13 percent of our oil from OPEC nations; the rest comes from Canada, Venezuela and other non-Persian Gulf states. If refuge oil represents only four-tenths of a percent of the world’s reserves, then it clearly will not decrease our dependence. The way to end our addiction to foreign oil is to end our addiction to oil.

Our petroleum-based economy is neither safe nor sustainable. It pollutes our air and water, pits us against other countries in the effort to obtain it and is a finite resource. What to do? Conserve. So long as we use oil, we must conserve what is available and make it last longer by using it wisely. For instance, upping vehicle mileage requirements by just 3 miles per gallon could save more than a 1 million barrels of oil per day. That’s five times the amount the refuge is likely to yield. "Hybrid’’ vehicles already are here, with long waiting lines of buyers.

We should develop alternative sources of clean energy. There’s a common myth that developing clean energy is too expensive and would cost jobs, but the opposite is true. The Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois estimates that implementing a plan to "Repower the Midwest’’ with sustainable energy (primarily biomass and wind energy) would result in more than 200,000 new jobs across the 10-state Midwest region by 2020, generate up to $5.5 billion in additional worker income, and up to $20 billion in increased economic activity. The Environmental Law and Policy Center, with other regional experts, has developed a blueprint for achieving this goal.

Our world is changing. We must change because our lives and livelihoods depend on it. Sacrificing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for a few barrels of oil makes no sense. It’s like sending treasure down with a sinking ship.

Energy policy requires statesmanship and forward thinking. Hopefully, our elected officials are thoughtful people who will carefully consider the issues. On this one, they should search their hearts (and take a look at where politics is heading). They will see that preserving the Arctic Refuge (and other wilderness areas) and calling for cleaner, more dependable energy sources is the right (and politically astute) thing to do. They will find themselves in camp with the rest of us who have faith in American ingenuity and determination. We are willing to tackle these tough issues. Are they?

Christine Fiordalis is chairperson of the Sierra Club Michiana Group, Hoosier Chapter, and lives in South Bend.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/sto...

Fax Congress to keep Arctic Refuge drilling out of the budget

http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/in...

Forum posts

  • america will go for the oil,no matter what.then with all the pollution it will be payback.

    • So what, let the next generation worry about pollution. I won’t be around. So while I am here I will use what resources I can. Relax, we’ll ALWAYS find more oil. We are made to use what is made for us.

  • Senate Vote Doesn’t End Arctic Fight
    http://www.defenders.org/releases/p...

    "The Senate voted 49-51 on Senator Maria Cantwell’s (D-Wash.) amendment to strip Arctic Refuge drilling from the budget resolution. With the Senate closely divided on such a high-profile issue, including it in the larger budget resolution could seriously damage the prospects of that bill as it passes through the Senate, the House-Senate conference and final passage in both chambers. Even then, this provision of the budget resolution will not go into effect unless it makes it into the final Budget Reconciliation bill later in the year, which must itself go through the same arduous process as the budget resolution itself. Congress hasn’t managed to complete the budget process in the last two years; if that happens again, drilling backers will be back to square one.

    The Senate just decided to make its job on the budget a whole lot harder. This is a tough vote for us to swallow, but the American people have said all along that they’re opposed to Arctic Refuge drilling, and Congress is about to find out just how angry they can get," Schlickeisen said. "Shoehorning a controversial measure like Arctic Refuge drilling into the budget where it doesn’t belong was a parliamentary stunt to begin with, and it’s one that could very well come back to haunt them."

    toll free number to congress 1-877-SOB-U-SOB (1-877-762-8762)

    For more information, please visit www.savearcticrefuge.org

    • That’s it Bush.That’s the last straw. I have come to actually hate. I have learnt it from you and your policies and like politicians. You are going to kill us all. Some one must stop this fanatic dumbness or else. How can an idiot like him get away with what he has with the record he’s got. Can anybody tell me anything good this person has ever done. Come on..tell me. I just don’t know.

    • After seeing this news I must finally think that the only thing Bush wants is the destruction of all at all levels. I have been witnessing like the rest of you the many affairs over the last few years and this new developement with Alaska is really the one that hit the last nail.. I am 15 years old and am very disappointed with Bush who represents what we stand? for as Americans. Actually I am ashamed and apologize for all the pain this person is doing to all the world and the animals already and next.

    • You are very insightful for a 15 year old. Bush and his gang are trying to induce Armagedon. They purposely do things to cause more hatred& destruction, They are trying to appoint people to different positions ie)Wolfowitz, when they know the World is strongly against this, they do it on purpose. They are trying to kill off all the poor in this country by decreasing Medicaid, increasing taxes, decreasing funding.
      The more trouble they cause the happier they are. Thay are on a MISSION! They will not be happy until their Mission is Acomplished.
      They are sick, sick, people...God Bless their souls!!

    • Damn straight! I have come to a point where I get myself physically sick thinking about all the harm Murder Bush and his cronies have inflicted. First, this so called "war", bankruptcy changes that favor credit card companies that charge 30% interest and target those who don’t have the money for medical bills, now destroying precious land for oil?! So Americans can zoom around in their Hummers that suck up 10 miles per gallon? Don’t not compute in my book!

    • Well obviously they are trying to induce armageddon...look at cunt Rice and her ridiculous speeches to the Chinese...she wants their help with No. Korea but at the same time she doesn’t want them to have modern weapons, she wants the help of the Europeans, but she doesn’t want them to profit from the arms industry, she wants No. Korea to disarm while she helps the U.S. wage war of every kind in the middle east, she wants Iran to stop developing nuclear technology while pushing star wars, all of these policies are so blatantly hypocritical that they are designed to piss everyone off including people here in the U.S. How else can they have a nuclear war that destroys all life on earth without pushing everyone to the brink? The big question is what if there is no God, no life after death? What if this is all there is and nothing more? Who wants to leave this issue in the hands of these crazy people? Who elected these bastards to decide that their religious insanity should end all life on earth?

    • TAKE TWO ASPERIN AND CLLME IN THE MORNING

  • A BRILLIANT IDEA!!!!!!!
    Let’s totally exploit all the oil reserves in Alaska, off the California coast, et al, and in return, as a sort of "quid pro quo" to ol’ mother earth, lets forcibly remove the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Nigeria, Yemen, Venezuela, and the Sudan, and turn these nations into international nature preserves. America would have the energy she needs, and the international JIHAD and the assorted revolutionary groups financed by the above mentioned nationettes would go [happily] broke. It’s a win-win situation. America would have fuel; Momma Earth would have pristeen wastelands and the religiously fanatic disgruntled towelheads would go back to doing what they do best: wandering desert wastes, murdering each other, abusing their women, and sodomizing camels.