New Alaska oil leases being offered

AP (via Yahoo) ^ | 8/16/2006 | H. JOSEF HEBERT

[SouthernBoyupNorth]

maybe if they hadn't blocked drilling in ANWAR this wouldn't have happened

[redhead]

Don't worry...ANWR will be opened. There is more oil up there than anyone ever imagined, I believe. "Lateral drilling" means they can tap into fields they can't build on, too...

[Obadiah]

... an area also where caribou give birth to their calves and thousands of geese migrate each summer to molt.

Don't know about y'all, but where I come from we could do with a few less geese, ducks, and other bird dropping types in our parks and lagoons.

[girlangler]

Ping

[upchuck]

19 senators and 10 House members separately urged Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to reconsider offering leases in the Lake Teshekpuk area.

Anybody got a list? Bet there's at least a couple of RINOs on there.

[Williams]

The AP article is disgusting. Ignore the 2 billionn barrels of oil, "environmentalists" are pointing to pipe corrosion somewhere else after 25 years, which apparently led to zero damage before it was discovered. In fact, doesn't this mean we should shut down the current North Slope as well? Pure insanity.

And they better open ANWR before the risk of more dems in Congress.

[Williams]

Couple of points. There is ZERO evidence that caribou or their live births are affected by this. In fact, they seem to love the North Slope. But why develop needed energy when we can recite the existence of caribou without any reason for believing they will be harmed? (sarc)

Second, I have seen little mentioned articles on ANWR stating that in given years the caribou do not show up and choose to stay in Canada all year. The whole routine about caribou desperately needing the spot where oil would be drilled is bullox.

[RightWhale]

Are these better called environazis or envirofascists?

[ASOC]

LOL
They would have protested without the BP mess!

There was a small spill in March, another, smaller one later.

Caribou population has climbed on the slope, and the presence of the pipelines seems to have no effect on the animals. You can find pics of caribou rubbing up against the pipeline to stay warm or to relive an itch.

[thackney]

Environmentalist do not want us to drill on the coastal plain of ANWR because it was reserved for Wildlife. Lake Teshekpuk is in the NPRA, an area set aside for OIL production.

[thackney]

There is ZERO evidence that caribou or their live births are affected by this.

The central arctic herd, which calves in the Kuparuk and Prudhoe Bay coastal plain has greatly increased their population since oil development moved into the area.

[thackney]

Track map of leases available.

[thackney]

I actually flew over the Colville River shown above yesterday on the Coastal Plain.

[proud_yank]

Great news!

[proud_yank]

The central arctic herd, which calves in the Kuparuk and Prudhoe Bay coastal plain has greatly increased their population since oil development moved into the area.

You mean these guys?

[thackney]

Those are them. I saw a couple of them yesterday.

From 2003:

Central Caribou Herd Grows to Record Numbers on Alaska's North Slope
http://www.doi.gov/news/030311.htm

(WASHINGTON, DC) - A recent survey of the Central Arctic caribou herd, conducted by biologists at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, calculates that the population of the herd is at the highest levels ever recorded.

The herd's population now stands at 31,857 caribou, up from 27,128 in 2000. This compares with a population of about 5,000 in the mid-1970s.

[proud_yank]

Must have been quite a site!

Odd though, that environmentalists haven't been cheering in relief that despite exploration in the region, the negative impacts on caribou has yet to be seen. /sarc

Have you ever had caribou?

[thackney]

I saw two yesterday, each standing all by their lonesome.

The stores sell caribou (reindeer) sausage in the local groceries stores. Very good. The difference between reindeer and caribou are only where they live. Caribou are wild, Reindeer are raised on a farm or pull a sleigh.

[proud_yank]

I've never had it, but I imagine its pretty good.

Is there a physical difference between woodland & arctic caribou?