So, what happens now? Well, the bill will have to be revamped, and hopefully the final bill will not include allowences to drill. This is not set in stone, however, becuase several conservative Repulicans say they will not pass the bill unless drilling is allowed. I think it is also important to note that the majority of the public is opposed to drilling in the artic refuge, according to a results released last Feburary from a poll on the matter: 53% said no to drilling, 38% said yes. Read about it here. If keeping the the Artic National Wildlife Refuge free from drilling is important to you, here is something you can do to help.
What (some) proponants to drilling say:
- solve the energy crisis/not dependent on foreign oil
- save money at the pump
- won't really hurt the environment
- won't effect any people
What (some) opponants say:
- Once drilling starts, it will be 10-15 years before we see oil and we'll have only 6month supply
- "It is expected that the price of ANWR coastal plain production might reduce world oil prices by as much as 30 to 50 cents per barrel... Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the OPEC could countermand any potential price impact of ANWR coastal plain production by reducing its exports by an equal amount." -Energy Information Agency
- Go here to see how animals could be impacted. Go here to see what happend to Prudhoe Bay, a once pristine wilderness area that became a drill spot.
- Won't effect any people? Tell that to the Gwich'in People who depend on the at risk caribou for survival.
To learn more about this issue, go to:
- Artic National Wildlife Refuge. If you click here, you will see several great links.
- Save Artic Refuge - these pages are extremely informative from Defenders of Wildlife, a great organization.
- Alaska Wildlife League
- ANWR.org - find out what porponants say
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9 comments:
From what I've heard, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge isn't even that pretty. Plus, it's really far away. Plus, wildlife kills people.
I agree with the Panda. How many people per year even see ANWR? Modern drilling techniques have a very small impact on the evironment and the project would increase employment in Alaska, which I'm sure we're all concerned with. (dangling preposition) I used to be opposed to drilling in ANWR, but then I thought, what's the point? Alaska is HUGE beyond imagination. There is room for both drilling and caribou. Besides, we'll all be dead in about 60 years and Earth will be scorched by the sun in a matter of billions of years. When we preserve for the future, we just leave more for the sun to destroy.
Panda- that our DNA can be so close, but are hearts far.
FishFrog- you of all people should want to protect the refuge if only for it's evolutionary potential.
I may be a bleeding heart, but at least I have a heart from which to bleed!
While I agree with you that we should try to preserve as much diversity as possible for its benefit to evolution, I also believe some people tend to over-emphasize the negative impact drilling would have in ANWR. Its possible that the drilling infrastructure could actually HELP the animals of Alaska by increasing the tax revenues of Alaska that could then be directed into preserving other habitat. Again, Alaska is HUGE!!!! There's plenty of room for everyone. And modern drilling teniques are not very invasive at all.
I understand your concern, but I think your worries are misplaced.
Oil is a non-renewable resource. Therefore, whether Alaskans find some other way to keep thier economy afloat now or in 10 years when the refuge is bone-dry, they'll have to find something else. This project is merely a short-term fix for Alaska's economy. A fix that will have negative affects generations down the line. The idea that any money that might be gained from this project would help the environment is (to me) absurd. Of any area, this is the one that needs remain preserved. This ecosystem houses many umbrella species (such as polar bears) and the desasterdly effect this will have far reaching impact. Again, I refer you to the links that talk about this unique and senstative habitat.
Alaska is huge, but the people indigenous to the region live THERE, use the animals that are THERE and have a way of life THERE that mainstream society completely discounts. Also the animals live there, and it is a habitate that has evolved over thousands of years to be the best place for them to live.
There is inherent value in the wilderness area itself. Wheter humans are getting use from it or not as it is(but they are), it still has value. If you click on the links provided in my blog, you can click on your state to see what birds who nest in this refuge area come to your state. It is not something "up and over there" that we do not need to be concerned with. Everything is connected, and the "not in my backyard" way of thinking just doesn't hold up becuase in one way or another everything is connected to your backyard.
A better way needs to be found. The negatives on this one far outway the short term fixes that it proposes, in my opinion.
I leave you with a quote that is not just a quote, but a sentiment important to many culutres of people - an hopefully one day to our own.
"We did not inherit the Earth from our Fathers, but are Borrowing it from our Children."
We need to look generations down the line when making decisions such as this. If we don't, then we are just, well, bastards.
I think if these Gwich'ins can't survive without the caribou, well, then let nature take its course. They will naturally reach a sustainable population and should be allowed to do so without interference, righ manda?
that might hold water if they were not already living sustainably, which by all acounts, they are. jerk.
I'm sure Africans were living sustainably at one point, too. The world changed, as it would for these Gwich'in folks if drilling had a negative impact on caribou populations. What's the difference?
That change, so often called "progress" did not seem to work for the African populations. Would you wish the same fate on the Gwich'in People? Besides, this is apples and oranges. One is a matter of destroying a way of life and causing potentially far reaching environmental problems for short-term gains and the other is a about overpopulation and third would living conditions.
One day my blog will have something to say about this.
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