--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So what would be the point in tapping the ANWR?
I'm not sure where this question comes from. I personally don't have particularly strong feelings either way about drilling in ANWR. If one wanted to make the case for drilling in ANWR, however, the case would be this: -The oil in ANWR is currently more valuable than ever. -A whopping 57 million acres of Alaska are already preserved as designated wilderness areas, forever closed to development. This means not just closed to mining and oil drilling, but closed to all roads, all human structures, and even most forms of human machinery! This land area amounts to over 15% of the land area for the entire State. Indeed, 57 million acres is larger than the land area in 40 other States! -As such, there is not a critical need for the preservation of representative Alaskan ecosystems as designated wilderness. The people of Alaska are overwhelmingly in favor of drilling for oil in this area, and given the federal interest that has already been met by designating over 15% of their State as federal wilderness, to me, that opinion counts for something. Moreover, the land area in question is already protected as a National Wildlife Refuge, the drilling that occurs there will have to be managed concurrent with the level of protection of the Wildlife Refuge. So, while drilling will naturally mean that the area won't have the highest level of protection as wilderness, it also won't mean that the area will be completely paved over by oil drilling either as if the land area were, say, completely unprotected BLM Land. As near as I can tell, no one is talking about decertifying the ANWR as a Wildlife Refuge. Thus, if I were forced to cast a vote, I'd vote for drilling in ANWR (particularly if I could convince the Republicans to make a trade by voting for the establishment of Maine North Woods National Park in exchange.) And if a Democrat were elected President and made ANWR a National Monument instead, it wouldn't bother me too much either. Perhaps the thing that bothers me most about the issue, is the completely disproportionate attention it has received, relative to its significance. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
