ANWR back in play

[seemslikeadream]

By SAM BISHOP, Staff Writer

Alaska's congressional delegation talked up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge following Republican gains in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, but advocates and opponents of the idea both cautioned that the underlying balances weren't tipped much by the election results.
"We're not quite there, but with some good work I think we could do it," said Kevin Hand, the new executive director of Arctic Power, the pro-drilling lobby group based in Anchorage.

"I think what's going to happen really remains to be seen. We're still evaluating the situation," said Peter Rafle, spokesman for The Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C. "What hasn't changed is that this still doesn't make sense to most Americans."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in her victory speech to supporters in Anchorage on Wednesday, said her thoughts were turning to ANWR, given the 55-member Republican majority in the Senate.

"I've been fielding phone calls all morning and all afternoon," Murkowski said. "I've probably heard from at least two dozen of my colleagues in the Senate, and, in some of the extended conversations, a lot of us are talking about ANWR now."

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http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2515413,00.html

[klook]

1. See Subhankar Banerjee's photographs

He's published a book of photos of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - see http://wwbphoto.com/gallery.html - depicting the people, animals, and landscape there. It's an incredibly beautiful place, and a unique wilderness area that deserves to be preserved. If the ANWR is turned over to the oil industry, the way of life of the Inupiat and the Gwich’in people will be disrupted, possibly destroyed; and the habitat of many animals will be damaged beyond repair.

95% of the area is already open to oil exploration and drilling. Trashing ANWR to open the other 5% would be a ridiculous waste.