Arctic Drilling - Too Hot to Handle
By Denise Best | Related entries in Environment, General Politics, In The NewsThe contentious issue of drilling provisions within the Alaskan wildlife refuge proved to be too hot for the House to handle, at least at this time.
House leaders late Wednesday abandoned an attempt to push through a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil drilling, fearing it would jeopardize approval of a sweeping budget bill Thursday.
They also dropped from the budget document plans to allow states to authorize oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts � regions currently under a drilling moratorium.
There’s been cases made on both sides of the issue as to the respective merits of their positions.
Entrenchment, however, seems to be the only thing that can be agreed upon by the environmental and the oil development lobbies respectively.
Is there a common ground that can be reached between these groups, so there can be responsible development achieved?
A “Pollyanna” question I know, but an interesting one to consider.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 10th, 2005 and is filed under Environment, General Politics, In The News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 10th, 2005 at 11:45 am
Denise- I don’t think it’s a Pollyannish question at all. I’ve read articles that claim that the ANWR drilling site would be the approximate size of Dulles Airport. Given Alaska’s size, this seems de minimis. It’s possible that there are countervailing concerns. My sense is that ANWR has become a symbolic abstraction for the Left and the Right. It’s most reasonable to toss out the symbols, roll up our sleeves and look at the facts. If the environmental impact is excessive, don’t drill. If not, reach compromises. If the Left is truly “reality based”, as it claims, this process should be acceptable.
November 10th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
How is it that the enviromentalists have gained such a stranglehold on the economy of this country? They, apparently, are now even able to control members of the Republican party. There has to be something shady going on in congress. I haven’t hear 1 reasonable argument yet against drilling in ANWR.
November 10th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
ford- agree totally. I’ve seen depictions of ANWR as polar bears romping in the pristine snow. The real pics of proposed ANWR drililng sites aren’t as sexy- they’re akin more to a frozen western Texas wasteland. Environmentalists prefer to create Babmi-like images of nature rather than dealing with reality.
The only objection I’ve read is that the minimal ANWR reserves don’t justify the investment. If it’s private investment, what difference would that make? That’s an assessment for the private sector.