| WASHINGTON
- March 6 - Today's introduction of the Arctic Wilderness bill,
coming on the heels of last year's historic Senate vote against
drilling in the Arctic and last month's Arctic budget letter signed
by six moderate Republican Senators, sends a strong message to
the White House and the oil industry - it makes no sense to drill
for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
It makes no
sense to ruin one of America's last wild places for what amounts
to six months worth of oil and gas-- oil that wouldn't even reach
American consumers for another 10 years.
It makes no
sense for the Bush Administration to think that drilling in the
Arctic Refuge is a substitute for an energy policy. The fact is
that there is a better way. We can promote renewable energy. We
can make the cars we drive right now go much farther on a gallon
of gas.
It makes no
sense to destroy land that is sacred to the Gwich'in, Native Americans
who have lived adjacent to the coastal plain for thousands of
years. Protecting the Refuge means that the Gwich'in can maintain
their way of life and hunt the caribou uninterrupted by the spills
and explosions that plague the existing oil fields of Prudhoe
Bay.
Yesterday's
release of the National Research Council Report on the cumulative
impacts of oil and gas drilling on Alaska's North Slope is just
the latest reminder that oil drilling and wilderness don't mix.
The report documents the negative environmental and cultural impacts
of 30 years of oil drilling in the area near Prudhoe Bay, noting
that, "The structures and activities also violate the spirit of
the land, a value that is reported by some Alaska Natives to be
central to their culture. Given that most of the affected areas
are not likely to be rehabilitated or restored to their original
condition, those effects will persist long after industrial activity
has ceased on the North Slope."
It makes no
sense to allow an industry with a track record of destruction,
damage, and drilling to get their hands on America's Arctic.
The American
people understand and appreciate the wilderness and human values
supported by the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Independents,
Democrats and Republicans alike strongly oppose drilling there,
and continue to support protecting this one of a kind American
treasure from oil and gas drilling.
We hope the
Bush Administration gets the message: Arctic drilling just doesn't
make sense.
U.S.
PIRG is the national lobbying office for the state Public Interest
Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public
interest advocacy organizations.
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