[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: NFC: artic drilling....the no opinion

If we don't want politics to dominate this group, I suggest that *not*
posting blatantly socialist petitions is a great way to start.

Wright

PS. Unless you are utterly convinced that government always does a good job,
I suggest you think twice about the emotional rhetoric below, and then don't
sign it.



robertrice at juno_com wrote:
> 
> Dear Friends this is one email petition that may actually accomplish
> something, but time is of the essence!
> Your signature at the bottom of this letter to
> President Clinton, will show your support
> for protecting The Arctic Wilderness and
> all the wildlife therein from Oil companies.
> by having one of president Clinton's lasts acts in
> office to declare this area a National Monument.
> PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
> Copy and paste the entire letter and list in to a
> new message and e-mail it to all your friends.
> 
> If you are the 20th to sign, Please e-mail this to:
> president at whitehouse_gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Make This Natural Treasure a National Monument
> http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/29/opinion/29JIM.html
> 
> December 29, 2000
> 
> By JIMMY CARTER
> ATLANTA - Rosalynn and I always look for opportunities
> to visit parks
> and wildlife areas in our travels. But nothing matches
> the
> spectacle of wildlife we found on the coastal plain of
> America's
> Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. To the
> north lay the
> Arctic Ocean; to the south, rolling foothills rose
> toward the
> glaciated peaks of the Brooks Range. At our feet was a
> mat of low
> tundra plant life, bursting with new growth, perched
> atop the
> permafrost.
> 
> As we watched, 80,000 caribou surged across the vast
> expanse
> around us. Called by instinct older than history, this
> Porcupine
> (River) caribou herd was in the midst of its annual
> migration. To
> witness this vast sea of caribou in an uncorrupted
> wilderness home,
> and the wolves, ptarmigan, grizzlies, polar bears,
> musk oxen and
> millions of migratory birds, was a profoundly humbling
> experience.
> We were reminded of our human dependence on the
> natural world.
> 
> Sadly, we were also forced to imagine what we might
> see if the
> caribou were replaced by smoke-belching oil rigs,
> highways and a
> pipeline that would destroy forever the plain's
> delicate and
> precious ecosystem.
> 
> Unfortunately, that scenario is far from imaginary.
> The reason the
> Alaskan coastal plain is home today to a pageant of
> wildlife is
> that there have been both Republican and Democratic
> presidents who
> cared about the environment. In 1960 President Dwight
> D. Eisenhower
> designated the coastal plain as part of a national
> wildlife refuge.
> Twenty years later, I signed legislation expanding the
> protected
> area to 18 million acres.
> 
> I listened to scientists who emphasized that the
> coastal plain is
> the ecological heart and soul of this, our greatest
> wildlife
> sanctuary. And I decided we should do everything
> possible to
> protect it and the stunning wildlife that it shelters.
> At my
> urging, the House twice voted to dedicate the coastal
> plain as
> statutorily protected wilderness.
> 
> Then, even more than today, much attention was
> focused on high
> energy prices; oil companies  playing on Americans'
> fears  sought
> the right to drill in protected areas. While the House
> held firm,
> the Senate forced a compromise, without ever putting
> the fate of
> the refuge to a vote. Thus, the law I signed 20 years
> ago did not
> permanently protect this Arctic wilderness. It did,
> however, block
> any oil company drilling until Congress votes
> otherwise. That is
> where the issue stands today.
> 
> The fate of the Arctic coastal plain was a subject of
> intense
> debate in the presidential campaign. But as the 106th
> Congress
> adjourned, a bill to safeguard the coastal plain by
> designating it
> as wilderness was blocked by parochial opposition from
> Alaska's
> congressional delegation. And there is little doubt
> that
> President-elect George W. Bush and Vice President-
> elect Dick
> Cheney will press Congress to open this area to oil
> companies. As
> oil industry veterans, they have unquestioning faith
> that drilling
> would have little impact.
> 
> The simple fact is, drilling is inherently
> incompatible with
> wilderness. The roar alone of road-building, trucks,
> drilling and
> generators would pollute the wild music of the Arctic
> and be as
> out of place there as it would be in the heart of
> Yellowstone or
> the Grand Canyon.
> 
> Some 95 percent of Alaska's oil-rich North Slope
> lands are already
> available for exploration or development. Our nation
> must choose
> what to do with the last 5 percent. Oil drilling or
> wilderness. We
> cannot have it both ways.
> 
> I am for the wilderness. That is why I urge President
> Clinton, who
> has been a champion for America's environment, to
> proclaim the
> coastal plain as a new Arctic Wildlife National
> Monument before he
> leaves office. It is vital to do so now, as the Arctic
> is
> threatened as never before.
> 
> National monuments are a unique form of recognition
> that
> presidents have used for nearly a century to single
> out the finest
> examples of America's natural heritage. Of course,
> Congress can
> undo a presidentially proclaimed monument. But that
> has never been
> done.
> 
> Teddy Roosevelt pioneered bold presidential action
> for
> conservation. He used the Antiquities Act to protect
> the Grand
> Canyon, urging Americans: "Leave it as it is. The ages
> have been at
> work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do
> is keep it for
> your children, your children's children and for all
> who come after
> you."
> 
> Now it is President Clinton's turn. With the Arctic
> coastal plain
> facing very real peril, it is time for presidential
> foresight once
> again.
> 
> Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States,
> is chairman
> of the Carter Center in Atlanta.
> 
> 


-- 
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679  huntleyone at home dot com

                Important things we should remember:
      [and weren't taught in mandatory government propaganda camps]

       The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

                *** http://www.libertarian.org/ ***
References: