Oil Deal for Alaska Wildlife Refuge on Fast Track

[SharonAnn]

Source: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Website)

OIL DEAL FOR ALASKA WILDLIFE REFUGE ON FAST TRACK — Yukon Flats Land Exchange Tied to Oil Development but No Time for Appraisals

Washington, DC — A massive land-for-oil swap in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge aims to open much of eastern Alaska up to petroleum development, according to comments filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The land exchange is moving quickly despite the absence of any land appraisals for the more than half-million acres involved. One preliminary estimate puts potential undiscovered Yukon oil resources at one-third the size of Alaska’s largest North Slope field.

...

“Interior is trying to accomplish on the Yukon what Congress denied them on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” stated Grady Hocutt, a former long-time refuge manager who directs the PEER refuge program. “The net result will sweep a vital wildlife refuge into an oil rush, crisscrossed with pipelines and roads.”

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the exchange outlines a panoply of potential detrimental impacts, including higher air pollution, discharge of greenhouse gases, “excessive draw down of surface waters,” loss of wetlands from drainage to build oil platforms, as well as threats to water quality and the risk of oil spills. The deadline for public comments on the land exchange is March 25th.

... “There is a rush to complete this exchange before anyone realizes what has been given away.”

Read more: http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1012

[Zhade]

1. kick against an impending travesty

kick

[SharonAnn]

3. Thank you. Everyone seems to be watching "Passport files" while real damage is done with this.

Typical Bush administration. Rush out lots of blather on some other subject, gin up the press people, get the scolds on all the channels, "worse than Watergate", etc. Yes, the issue with Obama's passport is serious and needs to be dealt with, but the world isn't going to end in 15 minutes because of it.

That distracts us from what the administration is really doing, stealing us all blind and ruining our country. With this issue about drilling for oil in Alaska, the world of the wildlife refuge might begin to end in 5 days. And you can bet they've got bulldozers, oil drilling rigs, etc. already up there and waiting for the official "start time". That way, they'll already be drilling before there's any organized protest or before the volume of outraged Americans becomes loud enough that the administration has to do something about it.

This is a huge thing and they know just how to get it under the wire and done before the public is really aware of what's been stolen and what's being destroyed.

We may never recover from this administration. What they've already done to the world breaks my heart, and to know that they're capable of more evil before they leave office is truly frightening.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. wtf? Anwar only has enough oil to take care oh US needs for 1 year. We

better be seriously converting to all alternatives energy sources soon (yesterday).....or like we should have done 30 years ago

[SharonAnn]

4. The oil companies don't care about that. They just want to get more money.

[Earth_First]

5. I do also remember reading that 60% of the recoverable crude is slated for export...

to China none the less.

:shrug:

[badgervan]

6. Yep

Probably closer to 100% ( Japan wants it also ).

[SharonAnn]

8. That's what they did with North Slope Alaskan oil in the 1990's.

The North Slope had been developed with the requirement that all would go to the United States (and some to Canada?).

When the price of oil dropped below $25 dollars a barrel, they Congress to permit sending it to Japan. So then, all the North Shore Alaskan oil went to Japan. Sweet deal. The United States develops it, gives up lands for it, builds harbors and port handling facilities for it, provides security for it, and it gets extracted and shipped to Japan.

Did you enjoy that "giant sucking sound" from your wallet? I didn't and I still don't. I'm continuously outraged by the criminals of extraction. They're stealing from us and we let it happen over and over again.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. Good one! - - that "giant sucking sound" -- can be applied to SO MANY decisions by the "deciders"

.
.
.

that

"giant sucking sound"

from your wallet - - -

Your government in action

[badgervan]

7. Congress? You There, Congress?

This has to be stopped.

[Arctic Dave]

10. Maybe one year.

Anybody who says they know how much oil is in ANWR is blowing smoke up yer dress. No one knows in any difinitive way what is out there. All they have to go by is old govt seismic data that at best was crude by todays standards. Plus, you have to remember even if you did find a decent amount of oil you would have to transport it through a 30 year old pipe line. Second they haven't even explored all of the NPR-A for oil developement or existing leases the oil companies already have. All they are trying to do is get every available piece of land for oil before * and Stevens, Young, etc. is out of office.

[RantinRavin]

14. So then it's possible there is a 200 year supply there ?

Since "No one knows in any difinitive way what is out there. "

[Arctic Dave]

16. Possible. But not likely.

Nothing like that has ever been discovered. Large deposits like that usually have signs. None which have been observed in ANWAR.

[bluesmail]

9. This is important

I'm kicking this so it stays alive

[Captain Angry]

11. A half million acres.

Not including the pipelines, I'm sure.

I wonder how much it would cost to identify the 1,000,000 cars in the USA with the worst fuel efficiency, seize them and then bought them a 35 mpg American Union made car.

Boom. USA jobs, polluting and inefficient vehicles off the road. And the bill can be split by the oil companies since they've been taking subsidies and tax breaks for years.

Not a bad trade off.

[Deny and Shred]

13. Sidestep Congress, rely on loopholes, slip phrases into bills

to conduct destructive policies that are profitable for themselves or their friends. What else is new. What's the last pristine place in America worth anyway when compared to some easy oil profits.

[hankthecrank]

15. K&R Must be a really hard job being Oil Company CEO

What with having the mirrors painted black so you can't see yourself

Oh wait they could care less, where I'm going to put this dam money that

keeps piling up. Dam what with having to look at all these yacht sales

brochures. The work never ends

[Peace Teacher]

17. Thanks for the info.

[flvegan]

18. And where the hell is our Dem led Congress?

*crickets*