Great post over at the blog formerly known as “I Voted For George” about the problems with the arguement for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:
1. The refuge’s 1.5 million acres represents the last 5% of Alaska’s North Slope not open to drilling.
2. The US Geological Survey has determined that ANWR holds just six months worth of oil - and that it would take 10 years to get the oil to market.
3. The Energy Information Administration has reported that if ANWR were opened to drilling we would need to import 60% of our oil fro overseas. We currently import 63% of our oil from overseas.
4. It is the principal calving ground of the 130,000-strong migratory Porcupine caribou herd, the second largest caribou herd in the United States and a key source of food, clothing and medicine for the Gwich’in Indians, one of the world’s few remaining subsistence cultures.
5. According to the Sierra Club: “Drilling for oil and gas in the coastal plain would require 280 miles of roads, hundreds of miles of pipelines, 50 million cubic yards of gravel scoured from nearby ponds and rivers, and massive production facilities. There is little doubt that such activities would forever alter and irreparably harm the coastal plain.”
Oh, but let’s drill there anyway. Yes, that makes sense. Fuck the planet.
