Palin on signature energy issue: inaccurate, incomplete on ANWR
Energy security is Governor Sarah Palin's signature issue, an opportunity for the public to evaluate her approach to governing, her concern for vulnerable people, and her handling of scientific evidence.
Palin's statements on CNBC's "Closing Bell" [8/29/08] about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are contradicted by research of the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Biological Science Report, and others. The discrepancies raise questions: what is her attitude toward scientific evidence? Is she unaware of the facts in her state and area of expertise?
Most of Gov. Palin's statements also appear on the Bush administration's Department of Interior website. The contradicting research of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Alaska has been marked "This is an Archived File" and a link that is labeled "The Department of the Interior supports opening the Arctic Refuge coastal plain to oil and gas development" takes the user to Interior's page, labeled as "Environmentally Responsible Energy Production in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)."
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/energy_new.html
(The Interior site also claims: "In 1980, President Carter and Congress set aside 1.5 million acres of ANWR's Northern Coastal Plain for potential oil development." But there was no Congressional decision on the use of this area other than to protect it from any activity not compatible with its purpose without further legislation by Congress. ANWR's purpose, according to the Congressional Research Service: "Under ANILCA [Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act] one of the purposes of ANWR is to 'conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity....' The other three purposes cite fish and wildlife treaty obligations, subsistence use, and maintenance of water quality and quantity.")
Absent from the CNBC interview is any mention of the indigenous Gwich'in Nation, who rely for subsistence and cultural identity upon the Porcupine caribou herd -- the spectacularly migrating herd that depends upon ANWR's Coastal Plain for calving, and that extensive scientific studies project to be negatively impacted by development. International law requires the United States to protect the cultures, subsistence, and ways of life of indigenous peoples; and the Gwich'in have appealed to and are supported by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Similarly, there is no mention of the U S agreement with Canada "On the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd."
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/ca_us/en/cts.1987.31.en.html
Governor Palin's reliance on more oil as a key transition strategy raises a question: Does she grasp our severely lopsided resources/demand ratio in the world petroleum market, or the current levels of green technology and energy efficiency -- in short, the vision -- to help us transition swiftly from our dangerous dependency on oil? Fareed Zakaria has written, citing the Pentagon-tasked "Winning the Oil Endgame": "We don't need a Manhattan Project to find our way out of our current energy trap. The technologies already exist. But what we're searching for is perhaps even harder -- political leadership and vision."
http://fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/082905.html
Following are excerpts from the online transcript of the Bartiromo interview, interpolated with research findings that contradict or question Gov. Palin's statements. This interview was first run on CNBC's 'Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" in preparation for "The Hunt for Black Gold" documentary. Video available at CNBC.com.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26462569/CNBC_Exclusive_Interview_CNBC_s_Maria_Bartiromo_Speaks_One_on_One_with_Vice_Presidential_Candidate_and_Governor_of_Alaska_Sarah_Palin_Transcript_Included
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "ABOUT 20% OF THE U.S. DOMESTIC SUPPLY... OF ENERGY IS PRODUCED UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE. SO VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT ECONOMICALLY.PHYSICALLY, THANKFULLY, TINY LITTLE FOOTPRINT."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
FACTCHECK.ORG - CITING THE ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION:
"Palin claims Alaska 'produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.' That's not true. Alaska did produce 14 percent of all the oil from U.S. wells last year, but that's a far cry from all the 'energy' produced in the U.S. Alaska's share of domestic energy production was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And if by 'supply' Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska's production accounted for only 2.4 percent/"
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/energetically_wrong.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_sum_crdsnd_adc_mbbl_a.htm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_prod/P2/PDF/P2.pdf
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/hf.jsp?incfile=sep_sum/plain_html/sum_btu_tot.html
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "ANWR AT THAT POINT IT'S ABOUT 2,000 ACRES THAT IS BEING ASKED TO BE LOOKED AT AND TO BE EXPLORED AND TO BE PRODUCED. 2,000 ACRES OUT OF 20 MILLION ACRES. THAT FOOTPRINT, IT'S ABOUT THE SIZE OF L.A.X. OR ONE OF THE LARGER AIRPORTS ACROSS THE NATION. AND THAT SHOULD ALLOW SOME PERSPECTIVE THERE ALSO."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo]
~~~
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE:
"One single consolidated facility of 2,000 acres (3.1 square miles) would not permit full development of the 1002 area [Coastal Plain area]. Instead, full development of the 1002 area would require that facilities, even if limited to 2,000 acres in total surface area, be widely dispersed. Dispersal is necessary due to the limits of lateral (or extended reach) drilling: the current North Slope record for this technology is 4 miles. If that record were matched on all sides of a single pad, at most about 4% of the Coastal Plain could be developed from the single pad. Even if the current world record (7 miles) were matched, only about 11% of the 1002 area could be accessed from a single compact 2,000-acre facility."
.......
"The term footprint does not have a universally accepted definition, and therefore the types of structures falling under a "footprint restriction" are arguable (e.g., the inclusion of exploratory structures, roads, gravel mines, port facilities, etc.).12 In addition, it is unclear whether exploratory structures, or structures on Native lands, would be included under any provision limiting footprints.13"
Congressional Research Service, Order Code RL33872, "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): New Directions in the 110th Congress," February 8, 2007
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/80677.pdf
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA:
"The physical "footprint" of the existing North Slope oil facilities and roads covers about 10,000 acres, but the current industrial complex extends across an 800 square mile region, nearly 100 miles from east to west."
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain," 17 January 2001, updated 2/05
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm#section4
~~~
WILDERNESS SOCIETY:
"Industry's claim that the 'footprint' of oil production would amount to 2,000-acres is based on misleading math that only accounts for the area where oil production facilities actually touch the ground, and excludes gravel mines, roads, and pipelines (except their posts). By their math, the 'footprint' of your office desk is only the 4 square inches where its legs touch the ground."
....
"If the Arctic Refuge were opened to drilling, oil development would sprawl like a spider web across the entire 1.5 million-acre coastal plain--the biological heart of the refuge....."
Wilderness Society statement, quoted in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 28, 2005
~~~
FORMER DIRECTOR, FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE:
"Modern petroleum exploration employs fleets of large vehicles that crisscross the frozen tundra, following a predetermined grid pattern. At frequent intervals, equipment on specially designed and extremely heavy vehicles is used to send shock waves through the ground so that monitoring devices can detect echoes that pinpoint underground oil and gas reserves. Noise from vehicles and seismic vibrations passing too closely can disturb denning polar bears, causing den abandonment and loss of cubs. Modern 3-D seismic exploration now uses grid lines that are often no more than 300 to 400 yards apart."
....
"During the assessment of oil and gas potential on the Refuge coastal plain..., about 1,400 miles of two dimensional (2D) seismic lines were surveyed (1983-85) to collect geophysical information used in the analysis. This work involved the use of bulldozer equipment moving worker camps, heavy seismic vibrators and related materials across the tundra during winter conditions when the ground is frozen and covered with snow. Due to the close proximity of the Brooks Range mountains to the Arctic Ocean in the Refuge, the coastal plain is primarily made up of rolling, hilly terrain which characteristically has uneven snow cover due to redistribution of snow by strong prevailing winds. Consequently, in areas having light snow cover the tundra vegetation was damaged by equipment, which created a variety of trails and visual impacts. Many of the damaged sites were such that significant recovery of vegetation has occurred and appear healed. At other locations, however, the damage persists, and in some cases has further eroded as water drains from sloped terrain in the scars. Damage at such places may last for many decades to come.
"Current state-of-the-art seismic surveys called three-dimensional (3D) require a high spatial density of survey lines (about 300-400 yard spacing). Such surveys create significantly more trails and tundra damage than the older 2D method, because of the increased number of lines, and the amount of vehicle turning that is required at the end of each line (turning of tracked vehicles tends to damage tundra vegetation more that straight travel). The NAS [National Academy of Sciences] report warns that if exploration intensifies in the foothills terrain (like the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge) the likelihood for increased impact to vegetation, soil erosion and visual values will be significantly greater. In the Arctic Refuge such impacts would destroy the wilderness qualities of the coastal plain, and would diminish visual aesthetics of the plain as seen from higher elevations in the designated Wilderness area to the south."
Former Director, Fish & Wildlife Service, Testimony, Jamie Rappaport Clark,House Resources Committee, March 12, 2003
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/108/testimony/rappaportclark.htm
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "NO ONE BUT ALASKANS WILL CARE MORE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PRESERVING THAT PRISTINE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS ANWR, THE COASTAL PLAIN, PRUTO [sic] BAY, ALASKA AS A WHOLE. AND WHEN YOU ASK ALASKANS DO YOU AGREE TO ALLOW DRILLING TO TAKE PLACE ON THE NORTH SLOPE, SPECIFICALLY HERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ANWR,... AND WITH ALASKANS' LOVE AND CARE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR LANDS AND OUR WILDLIFE, ALASKANS ARE SAYING YES BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT IT CAN BE DONE SAFELY, PRUDENTLY, AND IT HAD BETTER BE DONE ETHICALLY ALSO.... YOU GO DOOR TO DOOR AND ASK ALASKANS IF WE ARE READY AND WILLING TO PRODUCE MORE AND CONTRIBUTE MORE TO THE U.S. AND THEY'RE GOING TO TELL YOU YES."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL, TO U.N. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS:
"...we call upon the United States Congress and the President to reverse this threat of cultural genocide by recognizing the rights of the Gwich'in people to continue to live their way of life by prohibiting development in the calving and post-calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and to recognize the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness area to achieve this end."
....
"It is our firm belief that development would have devastating lasting effects on the Gwich'in socially, culturally and spiritually."
Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-fifth session, 1999, Items 10 and 15 of the provisional agenda. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Indigenous Issues. Written statement submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status, on behalf of the Gwich'in Steering Committee:
http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/cb3fb9823f87142780256740003a3f45?Opendocument
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE
"Old Crow, Canada, was the site of the July 14 - 18, 2008, biennial Gwich'in Gathering. The Gwich'in Nation reaffirmed the position originally taken in 1988 to oppose oil and gas development in the calving and nursery grounds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge....
"We cannot destroy everything for six months of fuel. Right before our eyes, all avenues are being used to destroy what we have as our way of life.''
Native Currents - Gwich'in honor 20 years of resistance, © Indian Country Today August 15, 2008. All Rights Reserved. Posted: August 15, 2008, by: Luci Beach / Gwich-in Steering Committee
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417961
~~~
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTE.
"And please do not forget that this is a place that we as Gwich'in consider The Sacred Place Where Life Begins - no less sacred to Gwich'in than Mt. Fuji to Japanese or Na Wahi Pana where Aloha 'Aina would be expected for Hawaiians."
Luci Beach, Gwichyaa Gwich'in and Vuntut Gwich'in, from Ft. Yukon, is executive director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee. April 21, 2005
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410788
~~~
DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINIC AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE:
"International law requires the United States to protect indigenous people's cultures, subsistence, and ways of life as fundamental aspects of human rights. Where these rights are dependent on maintaining a healthy environment, as they are for the Gwich'in [indigenous people], governments are obliged to protect the environment. The proposal being considered by the US Congress to open the 1002 area of the Coastal Plain to oil drilling would violate that obligation, by putting the Porcupine Caribou Herd -- and the Gwich'in nation that depends on it -- at risk."
Gwich'in Steering Committee; The Episcopal Church; & Richard Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University. "A Moral Choice for the United States: The Human Rights Implications for the Gwich'in of Drilling the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," 2005.
(find by googling: A Moral Choice for the United States
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE, THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINIC AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
"The Gwich'in live in 15 villages in northeastern
Alaska and northwestern Canada: in Alaska,
these are Arctic Village, Venetie, Chalkyitsik,
Stevens Village, Birch Creek, Circle, Beaver,
Canyon, Eagle, and Fort Yukon; in Canada, they
are Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Aklavik,
Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River), and Old Crow.10
The Gwich'in presently number 7,000 to 9,000
people.11
"Western anthropological evidence
suggests that the Gwich'in have occupied their
ancestral lands and harvested caribou for more
than 20,000 years; the Gwich'in believe it has
been this way since time immemorial.12....
"In the words of Gwich'in elder Jonathon
Solomon of Fort Yukon, Alaska, 'It is our belief
that the future of the Gwich'in and the future of
the Caribou are the same.'31 Harm to the
Porcupine Caribou Herd is harm to the
Gwich'in culture and millennia-old way of life.....
"The 1002 area targeted for oil exploration and
development is irreplaceable calving and postcalving
habitat for the Porcupine Caribou
Herd. Drilling in the area would leave the
herd without adequate habitat, almost certainly
leading to the long-term decline of the herd."
Gwich'in Steering Committee; The Episcopal Church; & Richard Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University. "A Moral Choice for the United States: The Human Rights Implications for the Gwich'in of Drilling the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," 2005.
(find by googling: A Moral Choice for the United States
~~~
THE "AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON THE CONSERVATION OF THE PORCUPINE CARIBOU HERD"
may be found at:
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/ca_us/en/cts.1987.31.en.html
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE
"The most fictitious statement made is that only one tribe is opposed to development in the Refuge. This is completely wrong.
"First, there are numerous federal tribes in the U.S. and many First Nations in Canada opposed to oil development in the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain. The Gwich'in have the longstanding support of those opposed to oil and gas development from the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which represents 37 federally-recognized tribes in the interior of Alaska, including the Gwich'in. We also have support from the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, which advocates on behalf of 187 tribal governments.
"There are various individual resolutions from Alaska Native tribes and communities throughout the state. The senators failed to mention that a petition from Kaktovik [Inupiat village on the plain, pop. 188 adults] has the signatures of 57 people and there is a resolution opposed to drilling in the Arctic Refuge and offshore in the Arctic Ocean from the traditional whaling community of Point Hope. Furthermore, outside of Alaska we have the support of numerous tribes.
"This broad opposition to drilling comes from the cultural significance of the lands as well as the ethic of the sanctity of birthplace - a basic principle of many tribes. Furthermore, this is where the distinction has to be made between Alaska Native corporations and tribes."
Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, Luci Beach, Gwichyaa Gwich'in and Vuntut Gwich'in, from Ft. Yukon, April 21, 2005.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410788
~~~
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, USA, TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE:
"To risk the destruction of an untouched wilderness and an ancient culture violates our theological mandate to be caretakers of creation." March 14, 2005.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_59990_ENG_HTM.htm
(background at:
http://www.savearcticrefuge.org/sections/news/bishop.html
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "I THINK THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF MISCONCEPTIONS AND MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT ANWR IS ALL ABOUT AND UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT ACTUALLY IS UP THERE. YOU SEE PICTURES, YOU SEE VISUALS FROM THE NAYSAYERS, THE CRITICS OF THE IDEA OF OPENING ANWR, AND THE PICTURES THAT THEY'RE SHOWING ARE MOUNTAINS AND -- POLAR BEARS.... LOTS OF DIFFERENT WILDLIFE. THEY'LL SHOW MOOSE IN A STREAM WITH MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND.THAT'S NOT ANWR. AND AS YOUR PEOPLE GO UP THERE ALSO AND ACTUALLY GET TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES... THEN THEY SEE THAT THOSE VISUALS THAT HAVE BEEN SHOWED [sic] AMERICA FOR ALL THESE YEARS ARE INACCURATE.... THERE AREN'T MOUNTAINS UP THERE,FOR INSTANCE.SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF MISPERCEPTION OUT THERE ABOUT WHAT THE PLAIN ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE.AND THE VISUALS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO AMERICANS."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, RETIRED FROM STAFF OF ANWR:
"We begin...at the northernmost point of the refuge, the shore of the Arctic Ocean. Looking south, flat land rises gradually up to high rugged mountains on the southern horizon ranging from five to thirty-five miles distant....Because the mountains are near to the Arctic Ocean in the refuge, the north-flowing rivers have a steeper gradient than those west of the refuge, where the distance from mountains to coast is much greater and the land is flatter. Thus there is more variable terrain in the Arctic Refuge coastal plain, especially where the swift-flowing rivers have cut through hills, leaving banks and bluffs....The steeper slope of the refuge coastal plain and foothills enables water to drain more swiftly, leaving relatively few lakes and ponds and primarily upland tundra vegetation."
Fran Mauer, ANWR Wildlife Biologist, retired, in "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land," by Subhankar Banerjee
~~~
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE COASTAL PLAIN IN THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EXHIBIT "THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: SEASONS OF LIFE AND LAND":
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo8.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo10.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo1.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo5.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo4.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo3.html
~~~
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
"The FLEIS [Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement] rated the Refuge's biological resources highly: ....'The 1002 area is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center of wildlife activity' (p. 46). The biological value of the 1002 area rests on intense productivity in the short arctic summer; many species arrive or awake from dormancy to take advantage of this richness, and leave or become dormant during the remainder of the year."
Congressional Research Service, Order Code RL33872, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): New Directions in the 110th Congress, February 8, 2007.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/80677.pdf
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"The 1002 Area is critically important to the ecological integrity of the whole Arctic Refuge, providing essential habitats for numerous internationally important species such as the Porcupine Caribou herd and polar bears. The compactness and proximity of a number of arctic and subarctic ecological zones in the Arctic Refuge provides for greater plant and animal diversity than in any other similar sized land area on Alaska's North Slope."
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain: Historical Overview and Issues of Concern," 2001, update 2006.
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest unit in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge is America's finest example of an intact, naturally functioning community of arctic/subarctic ecosystems. Such a broad spectrum of diverse habitats occurring within a single protected unit is unparalleled in North America, and perhaps in the entire circumpolar north.
"When the Eisenhower Administration established the original Arctic Range in 1960, Secretary of Interior Seaton described it as:
" 'one of the world's great wildlife areas. The great diversity of vegetation and topography in this compact area, together with its relatively undisturbed condition, led to its selection as ... one of our remaining wildlife and wilderness frontiers.' "
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain: Historical Overview and Issues of Concern," 2001, update 2006.
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "MORE AND MORE AMERICANS ARE RECOGNIZING IT IS TIME TO RAMP UP AMERICAN SUPPLY OF ENERGY, ESPECIALLY WE'RE A NATION AT WAR, A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT ARE SO ADVERSELY AFFECTING AMERICA ARE BASED ON ENERGY SUPPLIES AS WE'RE RELYING ON FOREIGN SOURCES OF ENERGY TO FEED OUR HUNGRY MARKETS....ALASKA HAS THESE SUPPLIES....STILL SITTING UNDERGROUND, IN A SENSE BEING WAREHOUSED.IT'S TIME TO UNLOCK THESE RESERVES ...AND START FLOWING THAT ENERGY INTO THE DOMESTIC MARKETS THAT ARE SO HUNGRY SO THAT WE CAN BECOME LESS RELIANT ON FOREIGN SOURCES OF ENERGY. AS MORE AMERICANS RECOGNIZE THAT, MORE AMERICANS, I BELIEVE,ARE CHOOSING TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES ON WHAT ANWAR [sic] IS REALLY ALL ABOUT."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
"With respect to the world oil price impact, projected ANWR oil production constitutes between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030, based on the low and high resource cases, respectively.1 Consequently, ANWR oil production is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices. Relative to the AEO2008 reference case, ANWR oil production is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light (LSL) crude oil2 prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 in the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 in the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 in the high oil resource case. Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could neutralize any potential price impact of ANWR oil production by reducing its oil exports
Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, May 2008, Energy Information Administration.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf
~~~
RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, ESTER, ALASKA:
"During the decade between 2021 and 2030, Arctic Refuge production
would reduce prices at the gas pump by approximately $0.032 (3.2
cents) per gallon. At peak, the gas pump reduction would be less than
$0.04 (four cents) per gallon, based on a $0.78 per barrel reduction in
the price of crude oil (all figures in 2008 dollars)."
"Existing Conservation and Alternative Technology Gains Far Outweigh Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Potential: Oil Imports Have Declined Significantly Since 2005." A Report to the Alaska Wilderness League By Richard A. Fineberg, Principal Investigator, Research Associates, Ester, Alaska 99725, June 4, 2008.
http://www.alaskawild.org/wp-content/files/Press_Releases/Fineberg_Report_6-4-08.pdf
~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "LET'S LOOK AT LESSONS LEARNED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS WHEN THE TRANSALASKA OIL PIPELINE WAS FINALLY ALLOWED TO BE BUILT AND THERE WERE...THE FEARS THAT THE CARIBOU HERDS WOULD DIMINISH AND DIE OFF. NO, THE CARIBOU HERDS ARE ACTUALLY THRIVING. THEY'RE FLOURISHING. THERE HAVE NOT BEEN THE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON THE CARIBOU HERDS. SO WE ANTICIPATE THE SAME THING AS WE TAP MORE ENERGY SUPPLIES UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE IN ANWR .... THE ENVIRONMENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE PROTECTED. OUR WILDLIFE WILL CONTINUE TO THRIVE AND TO PROSPER UP THERE. AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE STRINGENT AND SAFE OVERSIGHT THAT IS NECESSARY AND THAT WILL ALLOW THE POPULATION OF THIS WILDLIFE AND THE PRISTINENESS OF THE AREA TO CONTINUE."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
FORMER DIRECTOR, FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE:
"The likelihood of coastal plain development having adverse effects on the Porcupine herd is often discounted by oil drilling proponents through comparisons with other areas where development is already taking place and caribou numbers have increased. However, conditions on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain differ from currently developed areas on State of Alaska lands west of the Refuge, making comparisons of the two largely inappropriate.
"The coastal plain around the oil fields is more than 100 miles wide. It is used by relatively few caribou. Oil development that has been underway for many years has resulted in the displacement of Central Arctic caribou to other nearby habitat. In contrast, the narrow Arctic Refuge coastal plain is densely occupied by caribou and is bracketed by sea on one side and mountains on the other. Porcupine herd caribou displaced by oil development would not find other comparable habitat readily available.
"The Arctic Refuge environmental assessment written in 1987 concluded that oil development would have a "major" impact on the Porcupine caribou herd, defined as "widespread, long-term change in habitat availability or quality which would likely modify natural abundance or distribution" of the species. While the technology has improved, there is little question that the disturbance caused by the presence of drilling pads, pipelines, and facilities would displace the Porcupine caribou herd from their preferred calving habitat on the coastal plain, just as it has with the Central Arctic herd near the Prudhoe Bay oilfields. Furthermore, recent findings by DOI researchers published in 2002, documented that entire areas of calving concentration have shifted away from oilfield developments during the past 15 years. Findings of the National Academy of Science released last week [2003] show that during 1988 to 2001, Central Arctic herd cows that were displaced by oilfield developments had significantly lower reproductive success than in areas where they were not disturbed.
"The survival rate of Porcupine herd calves has averaged 14 percent lower in years when late snowmelt has displaced calving from the coastal plain to areas with poorer forage and more predators. A reduction of long-term calf production and survival of as little as five percent would be sufficient to prevent population growth in the Porcupine caribou herd. If the average survival rate falls by more than five percent--a distinct possibility if oil development occurs--the herd would be unable to recover from natural declines. The Porcupine herd has shown the lowest growth capacity of the arctic herds in Alaska, and therefore is the least resilient to the impacts of development."
Former Director, Fish & Wildlife Service, Testimony, Jamie Rappaport Clark, House Resources Committee, March 12, 2003.
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/108/testimony/rappaportclark.htm
~~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"There are fundamental differences between the calving areas of the Central Arctic and the Porcupine herds. In the case of the Central Arctic herd, there is a greater amount of alternative calving area available for displaced cows to move to because the mountains are much farther from the ocean. The 1002 Area is only one-fifth the size of the area used by the Central Arctic caribou herd, but six times as many caribou use the 1002 Area. In the Arctic Refuge, where the mountains are close to the coast, few alternative areas would be available for displaced cows. If the 1002 Area was developed, the associated pipelines, roads, and structures would potentially impact the Porcupine Caribou herd by:
* reducing the amount and quality of preferred forage available during and after calving,
* restricting access to important coastal insect-relief habitats,
* exposing the herd to higher predation, and
* altering an ancient migratory pattern, the effects of which we can not predict.
"A reduction in annual calf survival of as little as 5% would be sufficient to cause a decline in the Porcupine caribou population."
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Updated February 2005
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE REPORT:
"In summary, 4 research-based ecological arguments indicate that the Porcupine caribou herd may be particularly sensitive to development within the 1002 portion of the calving ground:
"Low productivity of the Porcupine caribou herd ....
"Demonstrated shift of concentrated calving areas of the Central Arctic caribou herd away from petroleum development infrastructures ....
"Lack of high-quality alternate calving habitat....
"Strong link between calf survival and free movement of females"
"Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain: Terrestrial Wildlife Research Summaries, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-2002-0001. Edited by D. C. Douglas, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska; P. E. Reynolds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks, Alaska; E. B. Rhode, Expression, Anchorage, Alaska.
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/1002/section3part5.htm#Conclusions
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "WE NEED TO DRILL, DRILL, DRILL OTHERWISE, I CANNOT BELIEVE A DOMESTIC SOLUTION IS ANY PART OF A NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY IF THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LET ALASKANS DRILL ON OUR OWN LANDS AND ON FEDERAL LANDS WITHIN OUR OWN STATE."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER:
" 'We left 95 percent of the areas with potential petroleum reserves in Alaska open to exploration and outside the boundaries of the protected areas,' [President] Carter said yesterday. 'My only disappointment was that we did not firmly act to designate the coastal plain as wilderness.'
" 'We don't need it,' he added. 'Its contribution would be tiny, six months of the country's petroleum needs. It would destroy the wilderness up there and one of the continent's last great predator-prey ecosystems.' "
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, Saturday, February 3, 2001.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/anwr03.shtml
~~~~~~~
PALIN: " AND IF A DOMESTIC SOLUTION ISN'T PART OF A NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN, THEN OUR NATION IS IN A WORLD OF HURT, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE RELIANT ON FOREIGN DANGEROUS REGIMES TO FEED OUR HUNGRY MARKETS." [CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
"DON'T TRADE ONE SECURITY PROBLEM FOR ANOTHER"
"...over half of the 800-mile Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) is elevated and accessible. This rapidly aging pipeline [is],,,arguably the most brittle part of the entire U.S. energy infrastructure. Oil from beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge... would prolong dependence on TAPS for decades....Yet TAPS is even easier to disrupt and harder to mend than that famous Persian Gulf chokepoint. TAPS has already been sabotaged, shot at over 50 times (punctured once), and incompetently bombed twice (penetrated once)....A longer hiatus [than the license requirement of an unspecified "short" time after an interruption of oilflow at 40 degrees F.], or in winter, could turn nine million barrels of gooey oil into the world's largest Chap Stick." [p.16]
"Energy Security Facts: Details and Documentation," Rocky Mountain Institute, 2003.
Find by googling: Energy Security Facts: Details and Documentation
~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "...I THINK OUR NATION IS AT A CROSS-ROADS ALSO....OUR NATION'S GOING TO BE IN A WORLD OF HURT WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT EVER REACHING POTENTIAL TOWARD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, IF WE CANNOT IMPLEMENT A DOMESTIC SOLUTION FOR THIS NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY.....WE HAVE ALL THESE ALTERNATIVE RENEWABLE SOURCE THAT'S ALSO CAN BE TAPPED INTO AS WE WORK COLLECTIVELY AND COMPREHENSIVELY ON AN ENERGY PLAN. WE NEED TO BE DOING EVERYTHING, AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE REALISTIC ALSO. .... WE'RE GOING TO BE IN A TRANSITION PERIOD FOR QUITE SOME TIME ...IT'S NAIVE TO THINK WE CAN GO RIGHT TO RENEWABLES AND THINK THAT'S EVER GOING TO WORK FOR OUR NATION TODAY AT THIS TIME."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
AMORY LOVINS, LEAD AUTHOR OF "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME," TASKED BY THE PENTAGON:
"With cheap oil-saving technologies and alternative fuels already at our disposal, the sooner we get off oil, the sooner we'll start making bigger profits. That's right -- profits. The conventional wisdom is that $50-a-barrel oil has made alternatives to fossil fuels economically viable. But the truth is that they were viable back when oil was $25 a barrel. The arguments in favor of phasing out oil have now merely become overwhelming." ....
"It's entirely possible to cut projected U.S. oil consumption in half by 2025, and eliminate it completely by 2050, without compromising rapid economic growth."....
"Mandates, subsidies and taxes aren't needed to implement these changes. What's needed are smart business strategies and enlightened government policies that remove barriers to adopting new technology."
"How to Live Without Oil: New energy sources and efficiency could make petroleum obsolete," Newsweek International, Aug. 8, 2005.
now available at
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/7753
~~~
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT REAGAN:
"[T]he means of achieving near-term energy security and ultimate independence from foreign oil are at hand. Courage and leadership are all that it takes to get us there."
Robert McFarlane, National Security Advisor to President Reagan, about the Pentagon-tasked report "Winning the Oil Endgame"
http://oilendgame.com/CommentsAndReviews.html
~~~
FAREED ZAKARIA, COLUMNIST, CITING "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" AND OTHERS
"We don't need a Manhattan Project to find our way out of our current energy trap. The technologies already exist. But what we're searching for is perhaps even harder -- political leadership and vision."
Newsweek, Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005 issue, Fareed Zakaria, columnist, "How to Escape the Oil Trap."
http://fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/082905.html
~~~
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY:
" ' Petrol, is like a girlfriend, you know since the beginning of your relation that she will leave you one day, summarizes Mr Birol. For her not to break your heart, it is better to leave her before she leaves you.' Also he sends a double message to the consumer countries, much firmer than in the annual report Published in autumn, 2004: 'save energy, save petrol! And diversify, please. Get out of petrol! ' "
Fatih Birol, director of economic studies, International Energy Agency, September 2005.
http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/articles/513
~~~
AMORY LOVINS VIDEOS (LEAD AUTHOR OF "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" ON CHARLIE ROSE:
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/07/15/2/a-conversation-with-amory-lovins
"WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" MAY BE DOWNLOADED AT:
http://www.oilendgame.com/
~~~
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER:
"If we are not wise enough to protect the Arctic refuge, future generations will condemn us for needlessly sacrificing the wilderness of their world to feed our profligate, short-term and shortsighted energy habit. The pathway to a better, more sustainable energy future does not wind through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
"Arctic Folly," By Jimmy Carter, Tuesday, September 13, 2005; A27, washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091201347_pf.html
#############
#############
"BARTIROMO: 'WE DID AN HOUR-LONG INTERVIEW. IN MY COLUMN IN "BUSINESSWEEK" MAGAZINE FOR A SECOND INTERVIEW WHICH I CONDUCTED ON WEDNESDAY....AND PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR SPECIAL ONE-HOUR PRESENTATION, 'THE HUNT FOR BLACK GOLD' PREMIERING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th. 'THE HUNT FOR BLACK GOLD' THE REASON I FIRST WENT TO ALASKA TO TALK TO SARAH PALIN ABOUT OIL IN ALASKA AND WHERE THE OIL IS IN THIS COUNTRY.
CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo
"Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://nbcumv.com/cnbc/.
© 2008 CNBC.com
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/26462569/site/14081545/page/2/
Palin's statements on CNBC's "Closing Bell" [8/29/08] about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are contradicted by research of the Congressional Research Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey Biological Science Report, and others. The discrepancies raise questions: what is her attitude toward scientific evidence? Is she unaware of the facts in her state and area of expertise?
Most of Gov. Palin's statements also appear on the Bush administration's Department of Interior website. The contradicting research of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service/Alaska has been marked "This is an Archived File" and a link that is labeled "The Department of the Interior supports opening the Arctic Refuge coastal plain to oil and gas development" takes the user to Interior's page, labeled as "Environmentally Responsible Energy Production in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)."
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/energy_new.html
(The Interior site also claims: "In 1980, President Carter and Congress set aside 1.5 million acres of ANWR's Northern Coastal Plain for potential oil development." But there was no Congressional decision on the use of this area other than to protect it from any activity not compatible with its purpose without further legislation by Congress. ANWR's purpose, according to the Congressional Research Service: "Under ANILCA [Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act] one of the purposes of ANWR is to 'conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity....' The other three purposes cite fish and wildlife treaty obligations, subsistence use, and maintenance of water quality and quantity.")
Absent from the CNBC interview is any mention of the indigenous Gwich'in Nation, who rely for subsistence and cultural identity upon the Porcupine caribou herd -- the spectacularly migrating herd that depends upon ANWR's Coastal Plain for calving, and that extensive scientific studies project to be negatively impacted by development. International law requires the United States to protect the cultures, subsistence, and ways of life of indigenous peoples; and the Gwich'in have appealed to and are supported by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Similarly, there is no mention of the U S agreement with Canada "On the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd."
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/ca_us/en/cts.1987.31.en.html
Governor Palin's reliance on more oil as a key transition strategy raises a question: Does she grasp our severely lopsided resources/demand ratio in the world petroleum market, or the current levels of green technology and energy efficiency -- in short, the vision -- to help us transition swiftly from our dangerous dependency on oil? Fareed Zakaria has written, citing the Pentagon-tasked "Winning the Oil Endgame": "We don't need a Manhattan Project to find our way out of our current energy trap. The technologies already exist. But what we're searching for is perhaps even harder -- political leadership and vision."
http://fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/082905.html
Following are excerpts from the online transcript of the Bartiromo interview, interpolated with research findings that contradict or question Gov. Palin's statements. This interview was first run on CNBC's 'Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" in preparation for "The Hunt for Black Gold" documentary. Video available at CNBC.com.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26462569/CNBC_Exclusive_Interview_CNBC_s_Maria_Bartiromo_Speaks_One_on_One_with_Vice_Presidential_Candidate_and_Governor_of_Alaska_Sarah_Palin_Transcript_Included
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "ABOUT 20% OF THE U.S. DOMESTIC SUPPLY... OF ENERGY IS PRODUCED UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE. SO VERY, VERY SIGNIFICANT ECONOMICALLY.PHYSICALLY, THANKFULLY, TINY LITTLE FOOTPRINT."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
FACTCHECK.ORG - CITING THE ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION:
"Palin claims Alaska 'produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.' That's not true. Alaska did produce 14 percent of all the oil from U.S. wells last year, but that's a far cry from all the 'energy' produced in the U.S. Alaska's share of domestic energy production was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And if by 'supply' Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska's production accounted for only 2.4 percent/"
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/energetically_wrong.html
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_sum_crdsnd_adc_mbbl_a.htm
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_prod/P2/PDF/P2.pdf
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/hf.jsp?incfile=sep_sum/plain_html/sum_btu_tot.html
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "ANWR AT THAT POINT IT'S ABOUT 2,000 ACRES THAT IS BEING ASKED TO BE LOOKED AT AND TO BE EXPLORED AND TO BE PRODUCED. 2,000 ACRES OUT OF 20 MILLION ACRES. THAT FOOTPRINT, IT'S ABOUT THE SIZE OF L.A.X. OR ONE OF THE LARGER AIRPORTS ACROSS THE NATION. AND THAT SHOULD ALLOW SOME PERSPECTIVE THERE ALSO."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo]
~~~
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE:
"One single consolidated facility of 2,000 acres (3.1 square miles) would not permit full development of the 1002 area [Coastal Plain area]. Instead, full development of the 1002 area would require that facilities, even if limited to 2,000 acres in total surface area, be widely dispersed. Dispersal is necessary due to the limits of lateral (or extended reach) drilling: the current North Slope record for this technology is 4 miles. If that record were matched on all sides of a single pad, at most about 4% of the Coastal Plain could be developed from the single pad. Even if the current world record (7 miles) were matched, only about 11% of the 1002 area could be accessed from a single compact 2,000-acre facility."
.......
"The term footprint does not have a universally accepted definition, and therefore the types of structures falling under a "footprint restriction" are arguable (e.g., the inclusion of exploratory structures, roads, gravel mines, port facilities, etc.).12 In addition, it is unclear whether exploratory structures, or structures on Native lands, would be included under any provision limiting footprints.13"
Congressional Research Service, Order Code RL33872, "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): New Directions in the 110th Congress," February 8, 2007
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/80677.pdf
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA:
"The physical "footprint" of the existing North Slope oil facilities and roads covers about 10,000 acres, but the current industrial complex extends across an 800 square mile region, nearly 100 miles from east to west."
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain," 17 January 2001, updated 2/05
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm#section4
~~~
WILDERNESS SOCIETY:
"Industry's claim that the 'footprint' of oil production would amount to 2,000-acres is based on misleading math that only accounts for the area where oil production facilities actually touch the ground, and excludes gravel mines, roads, and pipelines (except their posts). By their math, the 'footprint' of your office desk is only the 4 square inches where its legs touch the ground."
....
"If the Arctic Refuge were opened to drilling, oil development would sprawl like a spider web across the entire 1.5 million-acre coastal plain--the biological heart of the refuge....."
Wilderness Society statement, quoted in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 28, 2005
~~~
FORMER DIRECTOR, FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE:
"Modern petroleum exploration employs fleets of large vehicles that crisscross the frozen tundra, following a predetermined grid pattern. At frequent intervals, equipment on specially designed and extremely heavy vehicles is used to send shock waves through the ground so that monitoring devices can detect echoes that pinpoint underground oil and gas reserves. Noise from vehicles and seismic vibrations passing too closely can disturb denning polar bears, causing den abandonment and loss of cubs. Modern 3-D seismic exploration now uses grid lines that are often no more than 300 to 400 yards apart."
....
"During the assessment of oil and gas potential on the Refuge coastal plain..., about 1,400 miles of two dimensional (2D) seismic lines were surveyed (1983-85) to collect geophysical information used in the analysis. This work involved the use of bulldozer equipment moving worker camps, heavy seismic vibrators and related materials across the tundra during winter conditions when the ground is frozen and covered with snow. Due to the close proximity of the Brooks Range mountains to the Arctic Ocean in the Refuge, the coastal plain is primarily made up of rolling, hilly terrain which characteristically has uneven snow cover due to redistribution of snow by strong prevailing winds. Consequently, in areas having light snow cover the tundra vegetation was damaged by equipment, which created a variety of trails and visual impacts. Many of the damaged sites were such that significant recovery of vegetation has occurred and appear healed. At other locations, however, the damage persists, and in some cases has further eroded as water drains from sloped terrain in the scars. Damage at such places may last for many decades to come.
"Current state-of-the-art seismic surveys called three-dimensional (3D) require a high spatial density of survey lines (about 300-400 yard spacing). Such surveys create significantly more trails and tundra damage than the older 2D method, because of the increased number of lines, and the amount of vehicle turning that is required at the end of each line (turning of tracked vehicles tends to damage tundra vegetation more that straight travel). The NAS [National Academy of Sciences] report warns that if exploration intensifies in the foothills terrain (like the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge) the likelihood for increased impact to vegetation, soil erosion and visual values will be significantly greater. In the Arctic Refuge such impacts would destroy the wilderness qualities of the coastal plain, and would diminish visual aesthetics of the plain as seen from higher elevations in the designated Wilderness area to the south."
Former Director, Fish & Wildlife Service, Testimony, Jamie Rappaport Clark,House Resources Committee, March 12, 2003
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/108/testimony/rappaportclark.htm
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "NO ONE BUT ALASKANS WILL CARE MORE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PRESERVING THAT PRISTINE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS ANWR, THE COASTAL PLAIN, PRUTO [sic] BAY, ALASKA AS A WHOLE. AND WHEN YOU ASK ALASKANS DO YOU AGREE TO ALLOW DRILLING TO TAKE PLACE ON THE NORTH SLOPE, SPECIFICALLY HERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ANWR,... AND WITH ALASKANS' LOVE AND CARE FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT AND OUR LANDS AND OUR WILDLIFE, ALASKANS ARE SAYING YES BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT IT CAN BE DONE SAFELY, PRUDENTLY, AND IT HAD BETTER BE DONE ETHICALLY ALSO.... YOU GO DOOR TO DOOR AND ASK ALASKANS IF WE ARE READY AND WILLING TO PRODUCE MORE AND CONTRIBUTE MORE TO THE U.S. AND THEY'RE GOING TO TELL YOU YES."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL, TO U.N. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS:
"...we call upon the United States Congress and the President to reverse this threat of cultural genocide by recognizing the rights of the Gwich'in people to continue to live their way of life by prohibiting development in the calving and post-calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and to recognize the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness area to achieve this end."
....
"It is our firm belief that development would have devastating lasting effects on the Gwich'in socially, culturally and spiritually."
Commission on Human Rights, Fifty-fifth session, 1999, Items 10 and 15 of the provisional agenda. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Indigenous Issues. Written statement submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status, on behalf of the Gwich'in Steering Committee:
http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/cb3fb9823f87142780256740003a3f45?Opendocument
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE
"Old Crow, Canada, was the site of the July 14 - 18, 2008, biennial Gwich'in Gathering. The Gwich'in Nation reaffirmed the position originally taken in 1988 to oppose oil and gas development in the calving and nursery grounds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge....
"We cannot destroy everything for six months of fuel. Right before our eyes, all avenues are being used to destroy what we have as our way of life.''
Native Currents - Gwich'in honor 20 years of resistance, © Indian Country Today August 15, 2008. All Rights Reserved. Posted: August 15, 2008, by: Luci Beach / Gwich-in Steering Committee
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417961
~~~
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTE.
"And please do not forget that this is a place that we as Gwich'in consider The Sacred Place Where Life Begins - no less sacred to Gwich'in than Mt. Fuji to Japanese or Na Wahi Pana where Aloha 'Aina would be expected for Hawaiians."
Luci Beach, Gwichyaa Gwich'in and Vuntut Gwich'in, from Ft. Yukon, is executive director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee. April 21, 2005
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410788
~~~
DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINIC AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE:
"International law requires the United States to protect indigenous people's cultures, subsistence, and ways of life as fundamental aspects of human rights. Where these rights are dependent on maintaining a healthy environment, as they are for the Gwich'in [indigenous people], governments are obliged to protect the environment. The proposal being considered by the US Congress to open the 1002 area of the Coastal Plain to oil drilling would violate that obligation, by putting the Porcupine Caribou Herd -- and the Gwich'in nation that depends on it -- at risk."
Gwich'in Steering Committee; The Episcopal Church; & Richard Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University. "A Moral Choice for the United States: The Human Rights Implications for the Gwich'in of Drilling the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," 2005.
(find by googling: A Moral Choice for the United States
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE, THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINIC AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
"The Gwich'in live in 15 villages in northeastern
Alaska and northwestern Canada: in Alaska,
these are Arctic Village, Venetie, Chalkyitsik,
Stevens Village, Birch Creek, Circle, Beaver,
Canyon, Eagle, and Fort Yukon; in Canada, they
are Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Aklavik,
Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River), and Old Crow.10
The Gwich'in presently number 7,000 to 9,000
people.11
"Western anthropological evidence
suggests that the Gwich'in have occupied their
ancestral lands and harvested caribou for more
than 20,000 years; the Gwich'in believe it has
been this way since time immemorial.12....
"In the words of Gwich'in elder Jonathon
Solomon of Fort Yukon, Alaska, 'It is our belief
that the future of the Gwich'in and the future of
the Caribou are the same.'31 Harm to the
Porcupine Caribou Herd is harm to the
Gwich'in culture and millennia-old way of life.....
"The 1002 area targeted for oil exploration and
development is irreplaceable calving and postcalving
habitat for the Porcupine Caribou
Herd. Drilling in the area would leave the
herd without adequate habitat, almost certainly
leading to the long-term decline of the herd."
Gwich'in Steering Committee; The Episcopal Church; & Richard Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University. "A Moral Choice for the United States: The Human Rights Implications for the Gwich'in of Drilling the the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," 2005.
(find by googling: A Moral Choice for the United States
~~~
THE "AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON THE CONSERVATION OF THE PORCUPINE CARIBOU HERD"
may be found at:
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/ca_us/en/cts.1987.31.en.html
~~~
GWICH'IN STEERING COMMITTEE
"The most fictitious statement made is that only one tribe is opposed to development in the Refuge. This is completely wrong.
"First, there are numerous federal tribes in the U.S. and many First Nations in Canada opposed to oil development in the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain. The Gwich'in have the longstanding support of those opposed to oil and gas development from the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which represents 37 federally-recognized tribes in the interior of Alaska, including the Gwich'in. We also have support from the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, which advocates on behalf of 187 tribal governments.
"There are various individual resolutions from Alaska Native tribes and communities throughout the state. The senators failed to mention that a petition from Kaktovik [Inupiat village on the plain, pop. 188 adults] has the signatures of 57 people and there is a resolution opposed to drilling in the Arctic Refuge and offshore in the Arctic Ocean from the traditional whaling community of Point Hope. Furthermore, outside of Alaska we have the support of numerous tribes.
"This broad opposition to drilling comes from the cultural significance of the lands as well as the ethic of the sanctity of birthplace - a basic principle of many tribes. Furthermore, this is where the distinction has to be made between Alaska Native corporations and tribes."
Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, Luci Beach, Gwichyaa Gwich'in and Vuntut Gwich'in, from Ft. Yukon, April 21, 2005.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410788
~~~
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, USA, TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE:
"To risk the destruction of an untouched wilderness and an ancient culture violates our theological mandate to be caretakers of creation." March 14, 2005.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_59990_ENG_HTM.htm
(background at:
http://www.savearcticrefuge.org/sections/news/bishop.html
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "I THINK THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF MISCONCEPTIONS AND MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT ANWR IS ALL ABOUT AND UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE WHAT THE ENVIRONMENT ACTUALLY IS UP THERE. YOU SEE PICTURES, YOU SEE VISUALS FROM THE NAYSAYERS, THE CRITICS OF THE IDEA OF OPENING ANWR, AND THE PICTURES THAT THEY'RE SHOWING ARE MOUNTAINS AND -- POLAR BEARS.... LOTS OF DIFFERENT WILDLIFE. THEY'LL SHOW MOOSE IN A STREAM WITH MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND.THAT'S NOT ANWR. AND AS YOUR PEOPLE GO UP THERE ALSO AND ACTUALLY GET TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES... THEN THEY SEE THAT THOSE VISUALS THAT HAVE BEEN SHOWED [sic] AMERICA FOR ALL THESE YEARS ARE INACCURATE.... THERE AREN'T MOUNTAINS UP THERE,FOR INSTANCE.SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF MISPERCEPTION OUT THERE ABOUT WHAT THE PLAIN ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE.AND THE VISUALS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO AMERICANS."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, RETIRED FROM STAFF OF ANWR:
"We begin...at the northernmost point of the refuge, the shore of the Arctic Ocean. Looking south, flat land rises gradually up to high rugged mountains on the southern horizon ranging from five to thirty-five miles distant....Because the mountains are near to the Arctic Ocean in the refuge, the north-flowing rivers have a steeper gradient than those west of the refuge, where the distance from mountains to coast is much greater and the land is flatter. Thus there is more variable terrain in the Arctic Refuge coastal plain, especially where the swift-flowing rivers have cut through hills, leaving banks and bluffs....The steeper slope of the refuge coastal plain and foothills enables water to drain more swiftly, leaving relatively few lakes and ponds and primarily upland tundra vegetation."
Fran Mauer, ANWR Wildlife Biologist, retired, in "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land," by Subhankar Banerjee
~~~
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE COASTAL PLAIN IN THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EXHIBIT "THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: SEASONS OF LIFE AND LAND":
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo8.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo10.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo1.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo5.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo4.html
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/anwr/anwr_photo3.html
~~~
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
"The FLEIS [Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement] rated the Refuge's biological resources highly: ....'The 1002 area is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center of wildlife activity' (p. 46). The biological value of the 1002 area rests on intense productivity in the short arctic summer; many species arrive or awake from dormancy to take advantage of this richness, and leave or become dormant during the remainder of the year."
Congressional Research Service, Order Code RL33872, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): New Directions in the 110th Congress, February 8, 2007.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/80677.pdf
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"The 1002 Area is critically important to the ecological integrity of the whole Arctic Refuge, providing essential habitats for numerous internationally important species such as the Porcupine Caribou herd and polar bears. The compactness and proximity of a number of arctic and subarctic ecological zones in the Arctic Refuge provides for greater plant and animal diversity than in any other similar sized land area on Alaska's North Slope."
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain: Historical Overview and Issues of Concern," 2001, update 2006.
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest unit in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge is America's finest example of an intact, naturally functioning community of arctic/subarctic ecosystems. Such a broad spectrum of diverse habitats occurring within a single protected unit is unparalleled in North America, and perhaps in the entire circumpolar north.
"When the Eisenhower Administration established the original Arctic Range in 1960, Secretary of Interior Seaton described it as:
" 'one of the world's great wildlife areas. The great diversity of vegetation and topography in this compact area, together with its relatively undisturbed condition, led to its selection as ... one of our remaining wildlife and wilderness frontiers.' "
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Potential Impacts of Proposed Oil and Gas Development on the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain: Historical Overview and Issues of Concern," 2001, update 2006.
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "MORE AND MORE AMERICANS ARE RECOGNIZING IT IS TIME TO RAMP UP AMERICAN SUPPLY OF ENERGY, ESPECIALLY WE'RE A NATION AT WAR, A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT ARE SO ADVERSELY AFFECTING AMERICA ARE BASED ON ENERGY SUPPLIES AS WE'RE RELYING ON FOREIGN SOURCES OF ENERGY TO FEED OUR HUNGRY MARKETS....ALASKA HAS THESE SUPPLIES....STILL SITTING UNDERGROUND, IN A SENSE BEING WAREHOUSED.IT'S TIME TO UNLOCK THESE RESERVES ...AND START FLOWING THAT ENERGY INTO THE DOMESTIC MARKETS THAT ARE SO HUNGRY SO THAT WE CAN BECOME LESS RELIANT ON FOREIGN SOURCES OF ENERGY. AS MORE AMERICANS RECOGNIZE THAT, MORE AMERICANS, I BELIEVE,ARE CHOOSING TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES ON WHAT ANWAR [sic] IS REALLY ALL ABOUT."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
"With respect to the world oil price impact, projected ANWR oil production constitutes between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030, based on the low and high resource cases, respectively.1 Consequently, ANWR oil production is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices. Relative to the AEO2008 reference case, ANWR oil production is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light (LSL) crude oil2 prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 in the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 in the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 in the high oil resource case. Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could neutralize any potential price impact of ANWR oil production by reducing its oil exports
Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, May 2008, Energy Information Administration.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf
~~~
RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, ESTER, ALASKA:
"During the decade between 2021 and 2030, Arctic Refuge production
would reduce prices at the gas pump by approximately $0.032 (3.2
cents) per gallon. At peak, the gas pump reduction would be less than
$0.04 (four cents) per gallon, based on a $0.78 per barrel reduction in
the price of crude oil (all figures in 2008 dollars)."
"Existing Conservation and Alternative Technology Gains Far Outweigh Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Potential: Oil Imports Have Declined Significantly Since 2005." A Report to the Alaska Wilderness League By Richard A. Fineberg, Principal Investigator, Research Associates, Ester, Alaska 99725, June 4, 2008.
http://www.alaskawild.org/wp-content/files/Press_Releases/Fineberg_Report_6-4-08.pdf
~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "LET'S LOOK AT LESSONS LEARNED OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS WHEN THE TRANSALASKA OIL PIPELINE WAS FINALLY ALLOWED TO BE BUILT AND THERE WERE...THE FEARS THAT THE CARIBOU HERDS WOULD DIMINISH AND DIE OFF. NO, THE CARIBOU HERDS ARE ACTUALLY THRIVING. THEY'RE FLOURISHING. THERE HAVE NOT BEEN THE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON THE CARIBOU HERDS. SO WE ANTICIPATE THE SAME THING AS WE TAP MORE ENERGY SUPPLIES UP ON THE NORTH SLOPE IN ANWR .... THE ENVIRONMENT WILL CONTINUE TO BE PROTECTED. OUR WILDLIFE WILL CONTINUE TO THRIVE AND TO PROSPER UP THERE. AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE STRINGENT AND SAFE OVERSIGHT THAT IS NECESSARY AND THAT WILL ALLOW THE POPULATION OF THIS WILDLIFE AND THE PRISTINENESS OF THE AREA TO CONTINUE."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
FORMER DIRECTOR, FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE:
"The likelihood of coastal plain development having adverse effects on the Porcupine herd is often discounted by oil drilling proponents through comparisons with other areas where development is already taking place and caribou numbers have increased. However, conditions on the Arctic Refuge coastal plain differ from currently developed areas on State of Alaska lands west of the Refuge, making comparisons of the two largely inappropriate.
"The coastal plain around the oil fields is more than 100 miles wide. It is used by relatively few caribou. Oil development that has been underway for many years has resulted in the displacement of Central Arctic caribou to other nearby habitat. In contrast, the narrow Arctic Refuge coastal plain is densely occupied by caribou and is bracketed by sea on one side and mountains on the other. Porcupine herd caribou displaced by oil development would not find other comparable habitat readily available.
"The Arctic Refuge environmental assessment written in 1987 concluded that oil development would have a "major" impact on the Porcupine caribou herd, defined as "widespread, long-term change in habitat availability or quality which would likely modify natural abundance or distribution" of the species. While the technology has improved, there is little question that the disturbance caused by the presence of drilling pads, pipelines, and facilities would displace the Porcupine caribou herd from their preferred calving habitat on the coastal plain, just as it has with the Central Arctic herd near the Prudhoe Bay oilfields. Furthermore, recent findings by DOI researchers published in 2002, documented that entire areas of calving concentration have shifted away from oilfield developments during the past 15 years. Findings of the National Academy of Science released last week [2003] show that during 1988 to 2001, Central Arctic herd cows that were displaced by oilfield developments had significantly lower reproductive success than in areas where they were not disturbed.
"The survival rate of Porcupine herd calves has averaged 14 percent lower in years when late snowmelt has displaced calving from the coastal plain to areas with poorer forage and more predators. A reduction of long-term calf production and survival of as little as five percent would be sufficient to prevent population growth in the Porcupine caribou herd. If the average survival rate falls by more than five percent--a distinct possibility if oil development occurs--the herd would be unable to recover from natural declines. The Porcupine herd has shown the lowest growth capacity of the arctic herds in Alaska, and therefore is the least resilient to the impacts of development."
Former Director, Fish & Wildlife Service, Testimony, Jamie Rappaport Clark, House Resources Committee, March 12, 2003.
http://republicans.resourcescommittee.house.gov/archives/108/testimony/rappaportclark.htm
~~~~
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, ALASKA
"There are fundamental differences between the calving areas of the Central Arctic and the Porcupine herds. In the case of the Central Arctic herd, there is a greater amount of alternative calving area available for displaced cows to move to because the mountains are much farther from the ocean. The 1002 Area is only one-fifth the size of the area used by the Central Arctic caribou herd, but six times as many caribou use the 1002 Area. In the Arctic Refuge, where the mountains are close to the coast, few alternative areas would be available for displaced cows. If the 1002 Area was developed, the associated pipelines, roads, and structures would potentially impact the Porcupine Caribou herd by:
* reducing the amount and quality of preferred forage available during and after calving,
* restricting access to important coastal insect-relief habitats,
* exposing the herd to higher predation, and
* altering an ancient migratory pattern, the effects of which we can not predict.
"A reduction in annual calf survival of as little as 5% would be sufficient to cause a decline in the Porcupine caribou population."
US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska, "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." Updated February 2005
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm
~~~
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE REPORT:
"In summary, 4 research-based ecological arguments indicate that the Porcupine caribou herd may be particularly sensitive to development within the 1002 portion of the calving ground:
"Low productivity of the Porcupine caribou herd ....
"Demonstrated shift of concentrated calving areas of the Central Arctic caribou herd away from petroleum development infrastructures ....
"Lack of high-quality alternate calving habitat....
"Strong link between calf survival and free movement of females"
"Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain: Terrestrial Wildlife Research Summaries, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-2002-0001. Edited by D. C. Douglas, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska; P. E. Reynolds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Fairbanks, Alaska; E. B. Rhode, Expression, Anchorage, Alaska.
http://www.absc.usgs.gov/1002/section3part5.htm#Conclusions
~~~~~~~
PALIN: "WE NEED TO DRILL, DRILL, DRILL OTHERWISE, I CANNOT BELIEVE A DOMESTIC SOLUTION IS ANY PART OF A NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY IF THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LET ALASKANS DRILL ON OUR OWN LANDS AND ON FEDERAL LANDS WITHIN OUR OWN STATE."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER:
" 'We left 95 percent of the areas with potential petroleum reserves in Alaska open to exploration and outside the boundaries of the protected areas,' [President] Carter said yesterday. 'My only disappointment was that we did not firmly act to designate the coastal plain as wilderness.'
" 'We don't need it,' he added. 'Its contribution would be tiny, six months of the country's petroleum needs. It would destroy the wilderness up there and one of the continent's last great predator-prey ecosystems.' "
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, Saturday, February 3, 2001.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/anwr03.shtml
~~~~~~~
PALIN: " AND IF A DOMESTIC SOLUTION ISN'T PART OF A NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN, THEN OUR NATION IS IN A WORLD OF HURT, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE RELIANT ON FOREIGN DANGEROUS REGIMES TO FEED OUR HUNGRY MARKETS." [CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
"DON'T TRADE ONE SECURITY PROBLEM FOR ANOTHER"
"...over half of the 800-mile Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) is elevated and accessible. This rapidly aging pipeline [is],,,arguably the most brittle part of the entire U.S. energy infrastructure. Oil from beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge... would prolong dependence on TAPS for decades....Yet TAPS is even easier to disrupt and harder to mend than that famous Persian Gulf chokepoint. TAPS has already been sabotaged, shot at over 50 times (punctured once), and incompetently bombed twice (penetrated once)....A longer hiatus [than the license requirement of an unspecified "short" time after an interruption of oilflow at 40 degrees F.], or in winter, could turn nine million barrels of gooey oil into the world's largest Chap Stick." [p.16]
"Energy Security Facts: Details and Documentation," Rocky Mountain Institute, 2003.
Find by googling: Energy Security Facts: Details and Documentation
~~~~~~~~
PALIN: "...I THINK OUR NATION IS AT A CROSS-ROADS ALSO....OUR NATION'S GOING TO BE IN A WORLD OF HURT WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT EVER REACHING POTENTIAL TOWARD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, IF WE CANNOT IMPLEMENT A DOMESTIC SOLUTION FOR THIS NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY.....WE HAVE ALL THESE ALTERNATIVE RENEWABLE SOURCE THAT'S ALSO CAN BE TAPPED INTO AS WE WORK COLLECTIVELY AND COMPREHENSIVELY ON AN ENERGY PLAN. WE NEED TO BE DOING EVERYTHING, AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE REALISTIC ALSO. .... WE'RE GOING TO BE IN A TRANSITION PERIOD FOR QUITE SOME TIME ...IT'S NAIVE TO THINK WE CAN GO RIGHT TO RENEWABLES AND THINK THAT'S EVER GOING TO WORK FOR OUR NATION TODAY AT THIS TIME."
[CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo"]
~~~
AMORY LOVINS, LEAD AUTHOR OF "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME," TASKED BY THE PENTAGON:
"With cheap oil-saving technologies and alternative fuels already at our disposal, the sooner we get off oil, the sooner we'll start making bigger profits. That's right -- profits. The conventional wisdom is that $50-a-barrel oil has made alternatives to fossil fuels economically viable. But the truth is that they were viable back when oil was $25 a barrel. The arguments in favor of phasing out oil have now merely become overwhelming." ....
"It's entirely possible to cut projected U.S. oil consumption in half by 2025, and eliminate it completely by 2050, without compromising rapid economic growth."....
"Mandates, subsidies and taxes aren't needed to implement these changes. What's needed are smart business strategies and enlightened government policies that remove barriers to adopting new technology."
"How to Live Without Oil: New energy sources and efficiency could make petroleum obsolete," Newsweek International, Aug. 8, 2005.
now available at
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/7753
~~~
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT REAGAN:
"[T]he means of achieving near-term energy security and ultimate independence from foreign oil are at hand. Courage and leadership are all that it takes to get us there."
Robert McFarlane, National Security Advisor to President Reagan, about the Pentagon-tasked report "Winning the Oil Endgame"
http://oilendgame.com/CommentsAndReviews.html
~~~
FAREED ZAKARIA, COLUMNIST, CITING "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" AND OTHERS
"We don't need a Manhattan Project to find our way out of our current energy trap. The technologies already exist. But what we're searching for is perhaps even harder -- political leadership and vision."
Newsweek, Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005 issue, Fareed Zakaria, columnist, "How to Escape the Oil Trap."
http://fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/082905.html
~~~
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY:
" ' Petrol, is like a girlfriend, you know since the beginning of your relation that she will leave you one day, summarizes Mr Birol. For her not to break your heart, it is better to leave her before she leaves you.' Also he sends a double message to the consumer countries, much firmer than in the annual report Published in autumn, 2004: 'save energy, save petrol! And diversify, please. Get out of petrol! ' "
Fatih Birol, director of economic studies, International Energy Agency, September 2005.
http://www.globalpublicmedia.com/articles/513
~~~
AMORY LOVINS VIDEOS (LEAD AUTHOR OF "WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" ON CHARLIE ROSE:
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/07/15/2/a-conversation-with-amory-lovins
"WINNING THE OIL ENDGAME" MAY BE DOWNLOADED AT:
http://www.oilendgame.com/
~~~
PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER:
"If we are not wise enough to protect the Arctic refuge, future generations will condemn us for needlessly sacrificing the wilderness of their world to feed our profligate, short-term and shortsighted energy habit. The pathway to a better, more sustainable energy future does not wind through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
"Arctic Folly," By Jimmy Carter, Tuesday, September 13, 2005; A27, washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091201347_pf.html
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"BARTIROMO: 'WE DID AN HOUR-LONG INTERVIEW. IN MY COLUMN IN "BUSINESSWEEK" MAGAZINE FOR A SECOND INTERVIEW WHICH I CONDUCTED ON WEDNESDAY....AND PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR SPECIAL ONE-HOUR PRESENTATION, 'THE HUNT FOR BLACK GOLD' PREMIERING WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th. 'THE HUNT FOR BLACK GOLD' THE REASON I FIRST WENT TO ALASKA TO TALK TO SARAH PALIN ABOUT OIL IN ALASKA AND WHERE THE OIL IS IN THIS COUNTRY.
CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo
"Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://nbcumv.com/cnbc/.
© 2008 CNBC.com
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/26462569/site/14081545/page/2/
Labels: ANWR, Drilling, Energy Independence, Energy Security, Oil, Palin
posted by Elizabeth. | 12:49 PM
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