-Caveat Lector- conservativeinfo - Subscribe to the Conservative Information email list at http://conservativeinfo.listbot.com Little Bears and Big Oil: The Debate Begins in Earnest By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Morning Editor May 18, 2001 A "warm and fuzzy" photograph of a polar bear and her cubs that appeared on the front page of the Washington Post Tuesday was not snapped in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after all. The photo supposedly showing "A polar bear and her cubs at rest in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge" accompanied an article about oil firms making a high-tech pitch to develop the ANWR. But a correction in Thursday's Washington Post noted the picture actually was snapped in the 1980s about 200 miles northwest of ANWR. Here's the newspaper's May 17 correction: "Due to incorrect information provided to the Associated Press, a photo caption accompanying a May 15 article on Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge describe a polar bear and cubs as being at rest in the refuge. The file photo, taken in the early 1980s, actually showed bears on pack ice 30 miles offshore in the Beaufort Sea, about 200 miles northwest of the ANWR." Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) said cute bear photos like the one the Post ran are part of the propaganda we'll be seeing more of in the days ahead, as ANWR drilling opponents ratchet up their campaign to prevent oil exploration and drilling in what they call America's pristine wilderness. Alarmist But Murkowski and others who support the development of domestic energy supplies say ANWR opponents are exaggerating the environmental threat. They note that while the refuge itself is enormous - about 20 million acres, the size of South Carolina - only a tiny section - about the size of Washington's Dulles Airport - would be set aside for drilling. President Bush pitched his call for ANWR drilling Thursday, saying, "We can build roads of ice that literally melt away when summer comes and the drilling then stops to protect wildlife. ANWR can produce 600,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 40 years. What difference does 600,00 barrels a day make? Well, that happens to be exactly the amount we import from Saddam Hussein's Iraq." On the Today show Friday morning, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham picked up where the president left off, calling the president's plan balanced and sensible. While some say Bush's energy plan is dead on arrival in Congress, Secretary Abraham said, "I think you're going to find a lot of support for an overwhelming number of the 105 recommendations the president has made." 'Misguided, flawed, one-sided' An editorial in Friday's New York Times calls the Bush energy proposal "misguided...an alarmingly unbalanced piece of work whose main objective seems to be to satisfy the ambitions of the oil, gas and coal industries, either by easing environmental rules or by opening public lands for aggressive exploration." The newspaper, which counts itself among Bush's energy critics, complains the plan does little for efficiency or renewable energy. It urges "an attentive Congress" to make sure that Bush's "bad ideas" disappear and that only "good ones" survive. Democrats, pushing their own energy plan, are expected to attack Bush on the grounds that his plan was hatched in secret, and that it's nothing more than a sop to the Big Oil Companies that supported the Bush during his presidential campaign. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
