Al Re..130000 caribou have been pissing on that sensitivity for thousands of years.<<<<<
And any farmer would know that any grass which can take the abuse of 130,000 caribou for months each summer, without getting damaged permanently can't be that sensitive.
It's just some lousy oil.
Al <<<<<
And it is just a lousy plain on the edge of ANWR. Most of your reasons for not drilling there are just hyped up scare tactics. There is an article in this wk of Newsweek. Read it and enjoy.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/609750.asp#BODY<<<<<<
While this a neutral piece on ANWR. the article dispels some of your scare phrases.
1) The caribous need the plain for a calving ground. You will note this paragraph. In three days and nights camping on the plain in June, we saw about 20 caribou—the full herd didn’t make it to its traditional calving ground at the usual time this year because of unusual weather conditions. <<<<<
There we have it. There goes your "The caribou won't give birth any place else. Just as I predicted. The hard apparently can and will give birth where ever they happen to be when it is time.
2) The coastal plain is a beautiful pristene, sensitive area. You will note this paragraph.Most Americans who want to protect the Arctic refuge will never see it, and there’s good reason for that. In February when the sun hardly comes up, temperatures drop to an average of about 4 degrees below zero. And in the endless days of July, visitors can hardly breathe without sucking mosquitoes down their throats. Some Alaskans familiar with the refuge, like oil consultant Ken Boyd, don’t understand the attraction of the place. “You can’t see the end of the world from there, but you’re pretty darn close,” says Boyd, a geophysicist who once directed Alaska’s Division of Oil and Gas.<<<<<<<
No wonder the oil companies only want to drill in winter. The plain is inhospitable in summer.
3) If we drill the oil companies will spill oil, and ruin pristene land that hasn't seen a drop of oil. You will note this paragraph.
Nobody really knows how much petroleum there is under the ANWR coastal plain. Although oil seeps out of the tundra in some places—staining bogs with a bluish-black sheen—some scientists believe the seeps are evidence that a potential reservoir underneath has been crushed and ruined over geologic time. <<<<<
Say what. Oil is already seeping out of the ground; and the best way to keep the ground from getting more contaminated may be to drill and pump the oil before it can seep onto the ground and really ruin the area. Drilling may be the best way to protect the area from a huge oil spill, which is happening naturally. If you had a con of oil in the back of your garage which was leaking oil onto your floor, wouldn't you empty out the can before more oil spills, and stains more of your floor.. Same here.
4) Alaskan are divided over drilling. You will note this. Yet a majority of Alaskans, including Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles, favor drilling in the Alaska refuge—in part because the state and its citizens largely depend on the oil industry for jobs and revenues. “We can fulfill the image and vision of Alaska as the nation’s storehouse of wilderness areas ... as well as its storehouse of energy,” says Knowles. “We can have them both.”
5) The Grenwich indians are real indians who have lived a simple natural life, living on the caribou, and disdaining mans modern conveniences. You will note this. That doesn’t mean they aren’t open to outside influence: the Gwichin live in electrified homes, watch satellite TV and many drive all-terrain vehicles they call “four wheelers.” <<<<<
Say what. The Grenwich indians are driving SUVs, have satellite TV, and have electrified homes, instead of wood heated teepees. Whats next. We will hear that they use their 4 wheelers for hunting those caribou with assault rifles.
6) There isn't much oil in Alaska, so why bother. You will note this. Alaska has the largest area of wilderness lands in the country by far—an area roughly the size of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland combined. Yet it also has the nation’s two largest oilfields, and is second only to Texas in proven reserves of crude. <<<<<<<
I have no objection to leaving ANWR alone if you could actually tell the truth, and come up with actual good reasons not to drill. To say it is just some lousy oil, signifies to me that you have no idea how important oil is to our existence every day; and you have no idea how hard it will be to wean America off of cheap oil. If you really want to have the Us go to alternate fuels, and if you believe in the big bang theory; as long as there is ANWR, there will always be the spectre of cheap oil to turn to; therefore alternatives never will get a firm grip until ANWR is developed; because we haven't capitulated yet. |
