Lawmakers renew push for drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge

[Rhiannon12866]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski in 2001 gave a speech urging colleagues to approve oil drilling in America's largest wildlife refuge. The Alaska Republican held up a blank sheet of paper to illustrate his point.

The field of white, he said, was all you could see each winter on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, implying that such a barren landscape would not be harmed by oil rigs.

Sixteen years later, Murkowski's daughter is trying again. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is sponsoring legislation to open the refuge that takes up Alaska's northeast corner and is larger than West Virginia and Connecticut combined. With a Republican Congress and president, she's hopeful that the timing is right.

"If you ask me," she told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., "it's always been a good time to open it."


More: http://www.krgv.com/story/34581334/lawmakers-renew-push-for-drilling-in-alaska-wildlife-refuge



(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP). This undated aerial photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.

[Doreen]

1. Well, Paling could no longer blame the wolves for the destruction of The Caribou.

The destruction of the wildlife refuge would do that just fine.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. And it's not just the caribou, this wilderness area is home to countless other species, as well :(

The coastal plain is not the apex of Alaska scenery, but it's a nursery for polar bears, muskoxen and the vast Porcupine Caribou Herd. Migratory birds from all 50 states nest there. Few people visit, but the coastal plain is part of a refuge that's the very definition of wilderness: no roads, no campgrounds, not even any established trails. Environmental groups are planning strategies to keep drill rigs out.

"There are some places that are just too sacred to drill," said Alli Harvey, a Sierra Club campaigner in Anchorage.

[Doreen]

3. I realize that. I am just still angry that she thinks it is

OK to fly around in a helicopter shooting wolves and leaving there to die slowly. She claimed wolves were responsible for diminishing the caribou population. By the way there is absolutely no danger as of now with the caribou population. The biggest problem caribou had was human poachers. Now caribou and many other beautiful creatures have a big problem.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. I agree she's an abomination, what a horrible thing to say, let alone do!

I also just finished listening to Jimmy Carter's autobiography, "A Full Life: Reflections at 90" (read by the author ) and he was responsible for adding millions of acres to the National Wildlife Refuge System. He said that he was supported by the indigenous people of Alaska, but extremely unpopular with those who sided with the oil interests. That was in 1980 and it's unconscionable that this fight is still going on...


His wilderness legacy includes passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, which doubled the size of the country's national park and refuge systems, and tripled the amount of land designated as wilderness. His expansion of the National Park System included protection of 104.3 million acres of Alaskan lands.

[Doreen]

6. It is sad that we could lose all of that with one signature of a hateful person.

It sad all of that life may be destroyed.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. He's already destroying so much, but you already know that.

We need a Congress that stands up to him - one that listens to the majority of the American people.

[Doreen]

9. Yeah, but right now fat chance.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

4. If they can open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling

they'll use that as a reason to drill in other national lands -- including parks.

"I just want to put the tip in."

This won't be like Prudhoe Bay, with a single pipeline running from the Arctic Sea to Valdez. It'll be a spiderweb of pipelines connecting oily sploshes of oil rig facilities. Even the oil companies admit it'll barely put a dent in the price of crude. article

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Thank you, and I completely agree!

Spoiling our remaining wilderness forever with little to no lasting benefit to anyone. It's just greed, pure and simple. This is a terrific article - and would make an excellent OP!

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Drill, Baby, Drill... and turn the refuge into a thick slurry

I'm wondering what took them so long. A whole month??

[Rhiannon12866]

11. And you have to know who was responsible for protecting a big part of that land:

Jimmy Carter speaks about Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on its 50th anniversary (January 18, 2011)
http://articles.herald-mail.com/2011-01-18/news/27035801_1_president-jimmy-carter-porcupine-caribou-anwr

<snip>

Carter, now 86, and Cecil D. Andrus, his interior department secretary, found a solution in the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gave Carter the authority through executive order to designate national monuments in the refuge.

"We found 17," he said. "After that, Sen. Stevens began to negotiate with us."

"I spent more time looking at the map of Alaska than anywhere," Carter said.

Public opinion in Alaska ran so strong against Carter that the Secret Service advised him not to go into the state.

"They burned me in effigy in Fairbanks," he said.

Once, at a public event, two dunk tanks were set up, "one with my face and one with the Ayatollah Khomeini," he said.

Carter said he later felt that the refuge would be safe forever, even through subsequent administrations and both houses of Congress.

"A few weeks after I left office, President (Ronald) Reagan appointed James Watt as interior secretary and ANWR was opened to drilling," said Carter, who described Watt as "despicable."

Every time Republicans took over the White House, there were new moves to open the refuge to development, he said.

<snip>

[Cooley Hurd]

12. I have no doubt that President Carter would be on the correct side of this issue

[Rhiannon12866]

13. He worked very hard on this, considered it a major accomplishment

He didn't just have an opinion, he made it happen. And he needed extra Secret Service protection when he went to Alaska. The indigenous people of Alaska sided with him, but many others were against him, sided with the oil companies. Greed. And here we go again...

[dylb2]

14. reply

Interesting to see how this pans out.