Hello, everyone! For those of you who haven't heard of ANWR, it's the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Located up in Alaska, the Refuge is a very large reservation with a very beautiful and biologically diverse landscape that is home to hundreds upon hundreds of endangered arctic species that the Alaskans are trying to save. ANWR also happens to be the topic of an essay I am doing as of late, and so I thought I would spread the issues out here for people to read and respond to.
So what's the issue with ANWR? OIL! There's oil under 'dem animals! Lots of it, too. Oil companies have been trying to get at ANWR for years. Presidents have debated about whether or not to let the companies have their way. Drilling for oil in ANWR would disrupt (to whatever extent) the wildlife that is currently being preserved there. The reservation was met to let these animals (penguins, polar bears, arctic wolves, moose, etc.) grow up in a natural environment with little contact towards humans. Now humans are wanting to invade this reservation with a whole bunch of big, loud machines and nasty smells.
So what are the ups and downs to this situation? Well, the Ups of digging in ANWR is that America gets access to a very large deposit of oil on their own soil. Relying less on foreign countries, if only by a bit, will greatly help the American economy. Drilling in ANWR will also open up hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for Alaskan natives and anyone who needs a good low-paying job. The downs, of course, is that the reservation would be greatly disrupted, and all the animals living in the section where the oil companies are digging will be forced to move. The oil drilling will also work to damage the ozone up in the Arctic and contribute to our ever-unstable global warming issue, and if an oil spill happens then there will be an even greater amount of pollution around ANWR
Now, to be fair, the area that companies want to drill in is not very big compared to the rest of ANWR. The total area that ANWR encompasses is about the size of South Carolina, and the area that oil companies want to use is about the size of Rhode Island. To give more statistics, in total people say 2 million out of 19 million acres will be affected. However, pollution damage would spread over a much wider range, and of course just having human beings rushing around in ANWR would permanently disrupt the whole reservation.
So what to do? What to do? There are so many people on both sides of the debate. President Bush says lookie, oil! Let's go dig! But environmental groups have been fighting the drilling for years. I'm not sure on which side of the debate I stand. On one side, I think of the polar bears, and beautiful wolves that will have to move their homes to let the oil companies do what they need to do. I also think about what the oil companies will do to the enviornment. However, then I think on the logical side, and consider how much the oil in ANWR will do for America.
It's an interesting debate, and I'm stuck dancing back and forth on the issue. So what do you guys think? To drill or not to drill, that is the question.
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I feel as if the world is at an impasse; at best, I want to deem the efforts of world leaders all over as being hypocritical, especially the US. We have been for years describing the problem of running out of fossil fuels, running out of reserves for the oil that we and many other countries use to power the behemoth that is our economy, among other things.
I think that if the US can stop seeking new sources of oil and spend more time on alternative fuels, stop trying to pass legislation on and seeking foreign sources of oil, and start mass producing cheap, [other] powered cars (like that Indian company Tata Motors did, except with alternative fuel), it would benefit America in the long run so that we won't have to be faced with the issue of drilling in environmentally protected areas and preserve the beauty of North America, whatever is left.
The problem with this is that humans are greedy. We want that oil, because it represents potential millions (billions?) of dollars to pad the wallets of the oil companies. We want the wildlife because they are 'cute' 'pretty' and, as far as anyone can figure, there to entertain us, right? Nevermind that maybe the polarbears, pengins, seals, artic foxes, moose, grizzley bears, wales, caribou, gulls, grouse, geese, eagles, porcupines, starfish, and the millions of other species, macro and micro alike play a huge role in the balance of the environment and, ultimately, the continuation of the human species via their easy manipulation and exploitation. There are countless reasons to keep the reservation just that, reserved for the wildlife, as one of the few places left on earth where something can actually be wild. I can think only of one reason for drilling the oil: human greed. Eventually the compressed dinosaurs will run out, and we'll have think up a better way to fuel our overzelous, parasitic existance on earth. Maybe by then we'll have learned to appreciate the wildlife.
Read my blog!
Are you really this ignorant?
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"hundreds of endangered arctic species"
"The Refuge's rich pageant of wildlife includes 36 fish species, 36 land mammals, nine marine mammals, and more than 160 migratory and resident bird species."
http://arctic.fws.gov/wildlife.htm
Counting birds and fish you do get beyond 200, unfortunately the vast majority of that 232 species are not endangered.
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"What about the Penguins?"
"There's oil under 'dem penguins!"
"I think of the cute, adorable penguins"
No penguins in the arctic. Wrong side of the planet.
http://www.penguins.cl/penguins-region.htm
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"The oil drilling will also work to damage the ozone up in the Arctic"
How?
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"if an oil spill happens then likely over half of the large ANWR reservation will be greatly damaged by pollution. "
That would be one hell of a spill. I wonder how you hit over half of 19,049,236 acres with one spill?
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"Drilling in ANWR will also open up hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for Alaskan natives and anyone who needs a good low-paying job."
OK this is just getting silly. Maybe a few thousand jobs if VERY extensive drilling was begun, but those would be high paying jobs. The entire population of Alaska is less than 700K and most of them already have jobs.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/02000.html
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"2000 acres out of 10 million."
You are making up all of the facts here aren't you?
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I do like the fact that you are not trying to be one sided, but learn more before you open your mouth. I hope you have not submitted this paper yet.
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.
Geez. I am not making up all these facts. Just look online. I have heard their are native species of penguin in ANWR, and while the central "wilderness" area of ANWR is 9.6 million acres, the total area is said to encompass 19 million acres (and this fact is taken straight from the government). The range of ANWR that will be affected by the oiling is varied between the sources. The official ANWR website says 2 million acres, but others say just a few thousand. As for endangered species, while there are hundreds of thousands of species in ANWR, I've heard about 180 species are endangered. Finally, every source I have found agrees that the range of jobs opened with ANWR drilling would be around 250,000.
I've gotten these facts from books, websites and videos, including ANWR.org, the main government website for ANWR. Trying looking them up for yourself, and I do not like such an outright attack.
If you didn't read any of the links I posted to show where your facts were dead wrong maybe you are just choosing to remain ignorant, but why don't you check your facts and give me a link or two to a source. Otherwise I have to assume you are lying on purpose.
Why?
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.
*sigh* okay, I will reply one last time...
Different websites have different statistics about ANWR. I try and find my facts from legit websites, such as the ANWR organization website (and if you will look there, you will find the statistics I state are posted there, so are you calling ANWR.org a liar?). I have also watched movies (Oil on Ice, a group against drilling in ANWR) and have read essays and presentations. If my facts are incorrect, it is because my sources, for whatever reason, may not be accurate, in which case I apologize.
I truly think it is wrong and unnecessary to call me a liar. I have tried to keep my research for my essay as accurate as possible.
To make such claims, most people back them with the websites that they found them on. That's what he wants, just comply and then you two can get back to a real discussion.
And no species of penguin lives in the Arctic Circle region. The farthest north they go is the Galapagos Islands and Peru. The only reason penguins would even exist up there is because someone deliberately took them from their home and stuck them up there, which throws off the ecosystem. So if that is the case, then I say kill the fuckers because then the ecosystem will get back to some normalcy, unless you can show me where the information on these Arctic penguins came from.
lol okay! Maybe they didn't screw up the ecosystem and I just misread about the penguins. I found that one tidbit of information in a book, so I'll look it up again. However I'm sure the other species I listed (polar bears, wolves, caribou, etc.) are there, and we can't forget about those!
To cite my sources? To name a few, try anwr.org, gallup.com, oilonice.org, http://www.state.ak.us/. Most of my sources come from books, periodicals, and videos, and I won't bother listing all of those.
Ah, well. I just wanted opinions on 'drill or no drill' anyways. I'm having trouble choosing a side to take in my paper. Statistics are nice, but I wanted to see what individual people thought on the issue.
lol. If penguins do exist up there they would screw up the ecosystem. All the other species exist up there. Personally I am one for pristine wilderness and think we could find better modes of transportion, I mean fuck, our ancestors walked everywhere, lol.
Lying is making statements you know are untrue. Look at the statements I pointed out. Are any of them true? Next look at the corrections and references then explain why you persisted in claiming that wrong was right.
In this case I don't think anything more nefarious than not wanting to admit that you were wrong was at work, that is still lying.
I'm not hating on you. The references to check facts are only a few key strokes away. You will be doing your GPA a favor to get in the habit of checking when you can. Your instructors will.
A Fact is Always Better Than an Ideal.