Posted on 09/19/2005 7:41:42 AM PDT by Millee
People in polar bear suits will be among those gathering in Washington on Tuesday to protest the Bush administration's plan to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Congress is about to vote on a bill that might open the Alaskan refuge to oil drilling, and the Tuesday's protest, organized by a coalition of environmental groups, is aimed at pressuring lawmakers to oppose the plan.
Robert Kennedy, Jr., is one of the featured speakers at the event, which will take place outside the U.S. Capitol.
A press release said "busloads of citizen lobbyists from across the U.S. and Canada" plan to join the protest, which will include a drum procession by Native Americans and "large crowds of citizens with signs."
After years of controversy, the U.S. government is as close as it's ever come to drilling for oil in a small section of the Arctic wilderness.
In what opponents call a sneaky move, Senate Republicans included an ANWR drilling provision in the Senate's fiscal 2006 budget resolution, because budget bills cannot be filibustered.
The House version of the budget bill does not include ANWR drilling language, however, which means the ANWR drilling language will have to be included in the final budget reconciliation, which Congress must vote on in the next few weeks.
An article posted on the National Wildlife Federation's home page says the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "is not a flat, white nothingness."
"Imagine a land so remote that few have ever visited it except the indigenous peoples," the article says, then goes on to describe ANWR as the "crown jewel" of the Arctic.
Critics of ANWR oil drilling say the pipelines and other oil drilling apparatus will have a negative impact on wildlife in the area, but supporters, including the Bush administration, insist that ANWR exploration is a key step toward greater U.S. energy independence, and they say new technology makes it possible to develop energy sources with minimal environmental impact.
Arguments rage about how much oil ANWR would produce and the amount of time it would take to bring the oil to market and whether conservation measures would better reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.
But the recent spike in gasoline prices makes the argument more relevant to ordinary Americans.
While the arguments against ANWR drilling will be laid out at Tuesday's protest in Washington, a grassroots business/citizens' group called Arctic Power is offering ten reasons why ANWR drilling is a good idea.
Arctic Power notes that only a relatively small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be affected by oil exploration, while 92 percent of it will remain off-limits to any kind of development.
The lobbying group also outlines various economic benefits, including new jobs, that would flow from the opening of ANWR.
Geeeezzzzzzzz...the smell will be horrible.
I'm sure they all will ride bicycles or walk to get to this event.
Ask Robert Kennedy, Jr. why he does not want pollution free electricity generating windmills off the coast of his mega million dollar family compound.
These idiots must be on drugs.
Gee, I must have missed the part where Susan Jones mentioned that Congress initially set aside a portion of ANWR specifically for oil drilling and such when they established ANWR.
I'm sure she mentioned that, right?
Too bad it's not polar bear season!
Are there any polar bears in ANWAR?
Also, I wonder if the drum procession of Native Americans will include any Native Americans that live in ANWAR?
I have been to ANWR. It is typical tundra. Nothing remarkable, no "crown jewel", nothing.
We need to drill there --- now. No more excuses, no more lies from the environmentalists.
Haven't the enviros killed enough people?
I had no idea that polar bears enjoyed paying over three bucks a gallon so much.
Good analysis.
Maybe the protesters are supported by the oil cartel in order to keep the price up. I also wonder if they would be happy if the price of crude went up to $100 a barrel. Low supply means high price.
"Maybe the protesters are supported by the oil cartel in order to keep the price up.
Yeah, but you would think they could keep the same or mayber better profit margins by selling more at a lower price. Granted I'm no expert on the oil market but that's how Wal-Mart is so profitable.
Don't listen to the SHRILL
Storm Anwar and Drill!!!!!
Robert Kennedy hasn't done a fair days' work in his entire life, but he sure doesn't care about our economic well-being.
For that matter, how do you make a polar bear suit? Well one way would be to kill a polar bear and take it's fur. Another way is probably to use synthetic material i.e. OIL!
Another point. Native Americans were not the "stewards of the land" the loony left would have you believe. In truth they were the slashed and burned their way across huge swaths of the American forests.
we should feed them to the bears..
People first. Snail darters second.
I'll bet the dead in Mississippi are thrilled to have died so Robert Kennedy Jr. could get himself a heaping bowl of moronically-misplaced schadenfreude.
If this jackass had been born with the name Gus Shultz, he'd be a greeter at WalMart.
Pure insanity.
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