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Pat and others,
Nicholas Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, spent two
weeks traversing ANWR last summer and wrote a fascinating series of
articles about what he saw. He provided his own conclusions on
drilling in the refuge (and on President Bush's energy policy).
Unfortunately, you have to pay to read them at the paper's website, but
Kristof also did a narrated audio-visual tour of the refuge, complete
with his conclusions, that's free of charge. It's well worth the
listen at
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/opinion/20030910_ANWR/anwr1.html
(you may have to turn off pop-up blocker)
Here's a bit of what Kristof wrote:
- I would endorse drilling in the Arctic refuge if it were part of a
mega-environmental package that also addressed global warming, an
environmental challenge where we have even more at stake than in the
Arctic.
- Daniel Esty, a Yale scholar of the environment, proposes such a deal
-- with trepidation -- in the interest of breaking the national deadlock
on environmental policy.
- The package could include careful oil exploration in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (exploratory drilling could be done in winter
without permanent damage) and, if it turned out to be the oil lake that
proponents claim, commercial drilling as well.
- In exchange, the right would accept a beyond-Kyoto framework to
control carbon emissions, with tighter standards but a longer time frame.
The deal would include $1 billion in additional financing for solar, wind
and hydrogen energy, and significant increases in vehicle mileage
standards to promote conservation
- Yet President Bush's push to open the Arctic refuge is not part of
such a bold and thoughtful package to break the stalemate on the
environment. Rather it is simply a lunge for oil.
- Without trying to conserve oil, Mr. Bush would gobble up a national
treasure, the birthright of our descendants, as a first resort.
- The argument that I find most compelling is that this primordial
wilderness, a part of our national inheritance that is roughly the same
as it was a thousand years ago, would be irretrievably lost if we
drilled. The Bush administration's proposal to drill is therefore not
just bad policy but also shameful, for it would casually rob our
descendants forever of the chance to savor this magical coastal plain...
Kirk
At 02:29 PM 12/1/2003 -0500, Patrick Diehl wrote:
On Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m., the
Michigan Wildlife Conservancy -
formerly the Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation - will host a
presentation
on Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by ANWR expert and activist
Chad
Kister. Kister, who's traveling the country with an inspiring 1+
hour slide
presentation that shows the imminent need to save ANWR from proposed
oil
development, has backpacked and rafted through much of the refuge,
actually
living off the land. (He's also authored a 340-page book focusing
on the
awesome beauty of ANWR and development threatening the refuge.)
This event - which will take place at MWC's headquarters off
Drumheller
Road, south of Bath - gives Lansing-area residents a rare opportunity
to
view one of the most majestic places on Earth and to network with an
expert.
There is no cost to attend and refreshments will be provided.
For
directions or more information, please call Ray Ziarno at
517-482-5222.
Patrick Diehl
Associate Director
Michigan Environmental Council
119 Pere Marquette Drive, Ste. 2A
Lansing, MI 48912
517-487-9539
patmec@voyager.net
____________________
Kirk Riley
Outreach Specialist
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Michigan State University
(517) 355-7493
(517) 432-1550 fax
http://msu.mhsrc.org
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