Hands off ANWR

[jbfam4]

Hands off ANWR
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stall6may06,0,4700588.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is too precious to succumb to GOP bullying.
By Bill Stall


May 6, 2006

WHAT'S MORE cynical than offering Americans $100 each to soothe the pain of high gasoline prices? The proposal by some in Congress to open the nation's last, best wild place to exploring and drilling for oil. Most of us can see the $100 offer for what it is: pure political pandering. And we should be equally skeptical of the latest rush to industrialize the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

President Bush and some members of Congress will do just about anything to drill in the Arctic plain, an area often described as "America's Serengeti" for its rich variety of wildlife. In December, we had to drill because of the threat of conflict with Iran. Now it's Iran plus gasoline prices. Forget that it might take as long as 17 years, according to drilling supporters, before any oil found in the refuge reaches market.

It seemed that ANWR drilling had been put to rest at the end of last year, when the Senate rejected a back-door attempt to approve it by making it an amendment to a defense spending bill (this after the House stripped it from a budget bill). But ANWR keeps coming back. Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) was one proponent last week, huffing and puffing in the New York Times: "With all due respect, I cannot understand what coherent political philosophy cuts its own country off from oil."

Certainly the nation needs to develop the oil resources it has, as the energy sector converts to alternative sources of fuel, including ethanol, fuel cells and oil sands, and conservation through better auto-mileage standards and production of better hybrid vehicles. The Bush administration is opening millions of acres of federal land to oil and gas exploration, including a vast area of Arctic Alaska, west of the existing oilfield at Prudhoe Bay, and some offshore areas.

And

[Bill McBlueState]

1. here's another good part

Although Talent doesn't seem to know it, there is a coherent philosophy that objects to such a plan. It can be found in a deeply ingrained American belief that some sites must not be sacrificed to economic interests. Would we open Yellowstone to geothermal steam power plants? Or dam the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon for the hydroelectric power that could be produced? Although the plain is not a national park or formally declared wilderness, that's only a technicality. It's a critical part of the refuge, which, except for the plain, has already been granted wilderness protection.

That's a good set of analogies.

By the way, the latest National Geographic has a great article about the North Slope.