ANWR Open for Bidness

credit: C. Miller

On Monday the regime of Earth-destroyers and Q-anon supporters took the final step in a deeply flawed environmental assessment process to open the Arctic National Wildlife refuge to oil and gas development.  Most of the Arctic coastal plain is already open to exploration.  One has only to look at Prudhoe Bay and its surroundings to see what is in store for the last remaining wilderness on Alaska's north slope if greedy oil companies get their way.  The truth is that ANWR has been the target of the industry for six decades, and now that they have a majority in the Senate and the Chief Apprentice in Office, they are flouting laws to take away land that should be devoted solely to wildlife habitat.

Development would create a spider web of drilling rigs, oil pipelines, and roads—permanently altering this wild landscape for nearly 200 species of migratory birds who make the Refuge home, along with denning polar bears, hundreds of thousands of caribou, and other unique wildlife.  It is already too apparent that the Arctic is undergoing profound change due to global warming.  Destroying what remains for a relatively few more barrels of oil is stupid and immoral.  The current Secretary of the Interior told the press that he thinks the first lease sale could take place before the end of the year.  The Alaska Wilderness League said in response, “Any oil company that would seek to drill in the Arctic Refuge will face enormous reputation, legal and financial risks.”  Companies have shown little interest in operating in Alaska's harsh environment during a time of low oil prices, but that does not stop the Heel from publicly bragging that he accomplished what Ronald Reagan could not.  Join other conservationists in the good fight to protect our wild America.