by Pamela A. Miller
26-02-06
Alaska's official state motto, "North to the Future," hearkens to the promise
of Alaska's country. To some, this conjures oil drilling. To me, it means we
northerners can provide leadership on the great challenges of our day.
Despite our coldest January since 1971 here in Fairbanks, Alaskans have known
for a long time that global warming is rapidly changing our lands and seas, and
indeed our lives. We need action from our congressional delegation to get
America to cope with this disruptive global threat. Oil addiction and global
warming are related. Leadership on these issues is the great calling of this
decade, if not this century.
It is time for Alaskans to say to Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski and
Rep. Don Young: "Stop wasting energy on dead-end drilling schemes and start
charting an ambitious track to a cleaner energy future." Regardless of how you
feel about Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling, you should care about
forward-looking energy solutions across the country and here at home.
"America is addicted to oil." President George W. Bush said so in his State of
the Union address. He also offered his solution: Beef up research funds for
better hybrid car batteries and new ethanol sources. While this is a modest
start, he is onto the single most important thing we can do: reduce America's
demand for oil.
Was the president's speech a bold new beginning, an oilman's "Nixon in China"
conversion to launch an aggressive plan for real, clean energy solutions? Does
he recognize that "green is the new red, white, and blue," as columnist Thomas
Friedman so aptly put it?
Nope. A week later the president suffered a relapse. His budget submitted to
Congress included drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and assumes
highly speculative projections of billions in oil and gas lease revenues. A
closer look at the president's budget reveals drastic cuts in Energy Star and
weatherization and 30 % cuts in energy-efficiency programs at the Department of
Energy and EPA, compared with inflation-adjusted 2002 funding levels, instead of
major investments in solar and wind technologies.
Last year, Congress decisively rejected Sen. Stevens' attempts to bend the
rules to force drilling into the federal budget and then into the defence
funding bill. Drilling in the Arctic refuge won't solve America's energy
problems. Moreover, to persist in pretending it will is something only addicts
do. Energy experts agree that the best ways to reduce our dependence on foreign
oil are to make cars go further on a gallon of gas and invest in clean renewable
energy.
If America is addicted to oil, let us get past the first step -- admitting the
problem exists. Seeking to drill in a magnificent wilderness denies this and
therefore runs against the national interest. The harm to polar bears, caribou,
millions of migratory birds and the subsistence way of life of the Gwich'in and
other Alaska Natives from oil and gas development would be permanent and
irreparable. Congress will be taking up its budget resolution in the next few
weeks, and let's keep Arctic refuge drilling out of it this time.
From Arizona to Texas, states are already taking steps to wean off oil --
steps such as mandating that part of their energy mix be from renewable sources
like wind and solar. Alaska has begun, but it can do much more. For example,
Kotzebue has a growing wind farm. From 70 to 90 Alaska communities could reduce
their energy costs and reliance on diesel fuel by adding wind energy, according
to the Kotzebue Electric Association.
Bipartisan efforts in Juneau would kick-start renewables: For example, House
Bill 196 sets up an Alternative Energy Project Loan Fund, and House Bill 335
provides funding for research, state assistance to communities that invest in
local wind power and standards for renewable energy and alternatives as part of
utilities' energy mix.
This new energy will tap into the ingenuity of our citizens, produce longer
and more sustainable jobs, and provide relief from high fuel costs in rural
areas.
I look to the visionary Alaskans, conservationists and sportsmen who pressed
President Eisenhower's administration to establish the original Arctic National
Wildlife Range for its wildlife and wilderness values nearly 50 years ago. We
have a moral responsibility to continue to protect wild places like the Arctic
refuge today for future generations. In so doing, we show we are serious about
climate change and ending our oil addiction.
Pam Miller is Arctic coordinator at the Northern Alaska Environmental Centre
and is a former wildlife biologist on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Source: www.news-miner.com