Let me translate President Bush's words for you: If you are opposed to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, you are an elitist who doesn’t care about the price hard working Americans have to pay for gas and oil.
Well, I’m a hard working American who opposes drilling in the Arctic Refuge. This diary is my attempt to explain why.
I could go step-by-step through Bush's speech and point out the deceptions and falsehoods, of which there were many. I could point out that the American Petroleum Institute has launched a slick advertising campaign on TV and online promoting more oil exploration here in the US. I could talk about the need to get Polar Bears listed as an endangered species but others have already done that. I could also summarize all of the facts about why drilling in the Arctic Refuge won't have an impact on the price we pay at the pump, or that it's damn well time to have an energy policy that favors renewable energy over petroleum.
Instead, I want to get at the fundamental core issue - call it a value - that the Arctic Refuge represents for me. The words of Terry Tempest Williams express my sensibility so much more eloquently than anything I could invent myself.
In the open space of democracy, beauty is not optional, but essential to our survival as a species.
View across the North Slope toward the Arctic Ocean - oil derricks could soon become part of the landscape if oil companies and Republicans get their way.
Over the past decade, I've had the privilege of visiting the Arctic Refuge several times. It's a place of austere beauty so everwhelming that it can break your heart. Spending time in the Arctic is learning to share the landscape with creatures large and small, curious and indifferent, migratory and not. And finding yourself becoming attuned to the rhythms of nature in a way that's difficult to do in our busy work-a-day lives.
The Porcupine herd of caribou gets a lot of attention in discussions about the Arctic Refuge because Area 1002 is where most of them spend their summers, having their calves and fattening up for the winter (see below for a list of off-line sources used for this diary).
A couple of caribou wondering if I'm friend or foe.
The North Slope is essential for their ability to survive. But caribou are only part of the story.
Summmers in the Arctic are filled with plants and animals frantically reproducing and replenishing their food resources, using nearly every minute of the 24 hours of daylight to make sure that they and their progeny can survive the next year. For those that stay in the Arctic, the winter will be ferocious and cold even with the effects of global warming that are brcoming apparent. For animals that migrate, they will need every ounce of energy to survive their migration so that they can repeat the cycle next year.
Dall Sheep lambs have a very high mortality rate during their first winter. These rams have survived a few winters.
Muskoxen were once extirpated from Alaska. It's not clear how well they are doing since being re-introduced.
Arctic Grizzly Bears, while formidable in their own right, are considerably smaller than Grizzlies south of the Brooks Range. Arctic Grizzlies have a lot less protein in their diets because salmon don't spawn in streams of the North Slope.
Arctic Foxes are pure white in the winter and dark gray in the summer. This one is midway between the two phases.
The Arctic Wooly Bear Caterpillar takes fourteen years to mature. Once it has metamorphosed into a moth, it no longer eats and must mate quickly if its genes are to survive for another generation.
Flowers in the Arctic have adapted to their cold and windy environment by staying close to the ground as dwarf versions of their warmer climate equivalents or by developing bowl-shaped flowers in which the temperature in the bowl is several degrees warmer than outside. Insects hang out in the flowers just to warm up.
Also, there are no big trees because growing tall requires more sunlight than is available in the Arctic. A knee-high willow can be many decades old. There are a few stands of alders in protected gulleys - they are the northernmost deciduous trees - but they are small compared to deciduous trees in the forests of the lower 48 states.
The faces of Arctic Dryads follow the sun through the 24 hour Arctic days.
Arctic Lupine and Wild Peas carpet the ground with lovely shades of purple and fill the air with a sweet scent.
And the birds, the birds, the most amazing creatures, some of which migrate thousands of miles to take advantage of the Arctic summer bounty to raise their chicks. There is an abundance of seeds, insects, and other birds (and their eggs) to feast on over the summer. Some birds migrate from South America and even parts of Africa and Asia to spend their summer in the Arctic. There are birds as large as a Sandhill Crane and as small as a Gray-headed Chickadee. There are swans and geese and multitudes of songbirds that sing at all hours. Some of the birds in your backyard today could be in the Arctic in just a few weeks. About 70 species of birds nest and breed in Area 1002. The linked article summarizes the impacts on birds if oil development were to occur.
The Semipalmated Sandpiper, weighing only about an ounce, migrates from the north and central coasts of South America to breed in the Arctic Refuge.
Its well-hidden nest requires vigilance when walking across the tundra. One of the parents will sound an alarm or pretend it has a broken wing to lead you away from the nest.
The flashy Ruddy Turnstone, about the size of a dove, will aggressively chase away Long-tailed Jaegers looking for a scrambled eggs breakfast.
She lays her eggs in a shallow scrape on the ground.
Long-tailed Jaegers spend thier winters at sea. During nesting season, they live on lemmings and other birds' eggs (probably their chicks, too).
Their eggs are about the size of a large chicken egg.
Willow Ptarmigans are year-round residents. They rely on their camoflage to protect them from predators. It doesn't work as well in the summer as in the winter when they are pure white.
I hope these photos give you a sense for the wonders of this place. I'm not a religious person but the Arctic fills me with something spiritual.
Next, of course, is taking the value of "beauty" and turning it into something concrete. First, a few facts to inform our actions.
A brief history (this is a link to Senator Patrick Leahy's page about the Refuge - I like it for its synopsis. There is lots more info available on-line so get out there and Google if you want more):
- The Arctic National Wildlife Range was established in 1960 by President Eisenhower.
- In 1980, President Carter and Congress expanded the Range, renamed it, and set aside the 1.5 million acres of Area 1002 for future potential oil development, subject to approval by Congress.
- Area 1002 is the last 5% of Alaska's northern coastal plain that is not already open to oil and gas development.
- A modest increase in vehicle fuel efficiancy could save far more oil than could ever be produced from the Arctic Refuge.
- Since 1980, there have been many attempts to open up the Refuge for development, rejected each time with bipartisan support.
Another useful resource can be found here. Area 1002 is shown on maps with the distribution of Polar Bear dens, Muskox Habitat, and important stream for fisheries.
OK - as promised in the title of this diary here comes the action item part. Actually, there are several actions identified but participate at the level that works for you.
Recent rhetoric coming from Bush, the Republicans, and the oil companies suggest to me that there is a behind-the-scenes coordinated effort to get drilling in the Arctic Refuge approved before Bush leaves office - by hook or by crook. I could be wrong but I'm sure the above folks are fully aware that the next Congress (and likely next President) will be more likely to pass permanent protection of the Refuge than they will be to approve drilling. So it's their last shot at what they see as a necessity.
Action Item #1
If you have only a little time, please contact Senate Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Barbara Boxer (Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee), and Representative John Dingell (Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce). Also, your own Congressional representatives. Let them know that you support permanent protection of the Arctic Refuge (including Area 1002), and that you are opposed to any efforts to develop it.
Most Democrats have voted against developing the Refuge but they'll need to know we support them if the debate does become heated. You know the argument - you liberals are more interested in caribou than you are in national security, energy independence, economic prosperity blah blah blah.
Action Item #2
If you can stand to have a little more email, consider signing up for alerts from two fine organizations working on behalf of Arctic Refuge:
Alaska Wilderness League (There's a link on their home page for contacting your reps about Refuge Protection.)
Natural Resources Defense Council Action Center
Both organizations will send timely notices when a phone call or email is needed on legislation, etc.
Action Item #3
If you can afford it, consider a donation to one or both of the above organizations. They do good work. The Alaska Wilderness League is currently fundraising for an education drive. For $5, you can help educate 5 people about the Arctic Refuge and the need to preserve it, $50 will pay for a tabling event.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Together we can make sure that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a beautiful unspoiled place shared by all of rather than an oily mess used to line the pockets of a few.
Off-line sources used for this diary:
A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic (1994) by E.C. Pielou
Guide to the Birds of Alaska (2003) by Robert H. Armstrong
Alaska's Wild Plants: A Guide to Alaska's Edible Harvest (2003) by Janice Schofield
Alaska's Mammal: A Guide to Selected Species (1995) by Dave Smith and Tom Walker
Mammals of Alaska (1996) by Kathy Doogan
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