President Barack Obama is proposing to designate the vast majority of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a wilderness area, including its potentially oil-rich coastal plain, drawing an angry response from top state elected officials who see it as a land grab by the federal government.
The designation would set aside an additional nearly 12.3 million acres as wilderness, including the coastal plain near Alaska's northeast corner, giving it the highest degree of federal protection available to public lands. More than 7 million acres of the refuge currently are managed as wilderness.
Do you think anybody will protest that decision?
Yep.
"They've decided that today was the day that they were going to declare war on Alaska. Well, we are ready to engage," said U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and chair of the Senate energy committee.
Trust me Murkowski is not alone, EVERY SINGLE Alaskan politician is going to come out against this decision, and if Mark Begich were still in the Senate he would as well.
You simply cannot get elected up here unless you support drilling in ANWR. Period.
However as a citizen of this state, and of the world, I completely support this decision and recognize that it is really the only intelligent way to go.
Remember according to scientists we actually need to leave all of the untapped oil resources exactly where they are if we have any hope of saving ourselves and out planet.
Trust me as an Alaskan I know all too well that we are almost completely reliant on oil money for survival, but the future is all about change and in order to survive, and this is not hyperbole, we must change as well.
Totally off topic but please see Jon Stewart's epic takedown of the Palin speech!
ReplyDeletehttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-iowa-freedom-summit-sarah-palin
DontHatetheGame
Another FANTASTIC takedown was in the conservative National Review. Enjoy!
Deletehttp://www.nationalreview.com/article/397238/sarah-palin-slips-self-parody-charles-c-w-cooke
It was brilliant, wasn't it?! When I realized he was about to take it on, I practically squealed with excitement!!
DeleteHe didn't pick the best parts of her incoherence though. He should have used the naked Bristol part..
DeleteROFLOL!!!
DeleteWTH: $he be tryin' ta talk like $he be a BLACK wimin!
Got the stereotypical full lips for it, but definitely missing the big booty - and commonsense and brains and class and....
Oh, and also forgot to wash her ten wigs she piled on top of her head for this screech!
DeleteI am a Democrat who actually voted for Lisa once. Now I get extreme pleasure out of listening to her whine and watching her screw up her face in anger. Of course, Don Young calling President Obama a wacko yesterday is no surprise. What a shameful Congressional delegation we have in Alaska.
ReplyDeleteAlaskans have been total idiots in electing politicians. Just look at the examples - Frank Murkowski (Lisa's Dad), Lisa Murkowski, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell, both Sullivans (U.S. Congress and Mayor of Anchorage) and Don Young.
DeleteThese folks are NOT helpful and honest people! Check all their records.
Why did you ever vote for her? This is why they stay in office when we have our own Dems vote Republican.
DeleteI see this as a calculated move. Barack is playing chess, knowing he can use this as a bargaining chip with Congress. I expect to see compromises on this over time.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there will be compromise. ANWR exploitation is such a big prize for some Alaskans that even a small wedge will appear to be a victory.
DeleteI would like to see jobs and education support pumped into Alaska to offset this perceived loss in ANWR.
Can't wait for Pepe Le Pew's response to this.
ReplyDeleteThe only people who can claim it's a land grab belong to the native population.
ReplyDeleteDoes Murkowski agree with the AIP? Does she want Alaska to secede? If not, she should shut up about "war."
Guess the AIP will vamp up big time. Maybe the Palins can then be crowned King & Queen.
ReplyDeleteAlaska and it's politicians, are like someone that has lived on welfare for yrs and then complains about their govmint not doing anything to help them.
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeleteMade me LMAO when I saw the headline. Gee, ya think the Pres is tired of playing nice? Gee, ya think he didn't know this was going to make GOP heads explode? After 6 years of the Republicans telling the Pres that he can't do anything, do you really think the POTUS give a rats ass what the GOP wants anymore? 'Cause I don't.
ReplyDeleteWhat a BEAUTIFUL picture!
ReplyDeleteIsn't oil exploration already going down in Alaska, and aren't oil companies already quitting drawing out oil? Aren't some of the oil pipelines sinking/sagging because of the permafrost melting?
How about propping up tourism instead of oil drilling?! Make tourism to those areas available and especially AFFORDABLE - for the every-day person, not just the millionaires like the PayMes!
The first thing I thought of was this:
ReplyDeleteIf climate change keeps accelerating, how will oil be drilled and shipped? For the most part, aren't personnel, material and equipment transported to drilling locations via the "ice road"? Will any oil pipeline be stable upon unstable ground?
After all, a thawed tundra becomes moors, and peat does not lend itself to stability.
Gryphen, can you enlighten those of us who wonder?
I support President Obama in this matter and I'm an Alaskan! Watching Lisa Murkowski do her rant and rave about the matter did not lend her support! A bitch is exactly how she cam across!
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is to vote her out of office when her cycle is next up! She damned near lost last time!! Don't trust her as far as I can throw her! Plus, she's Republican!
I have never voted for her and never will!
Obama's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Protection Plan Enrages Alaska Politicians, Delights Environmentalists
ReplyDelete...Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released a statement calling the plan a “stunning attack on our sovereignty and our ability to develop a strong economy.” Murkowski added that Alaska would “fight back with every resource at our disposal.” She took to Twitter to vent her anger:
http://www.bustle.com/articles/60521-obamas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-protection-plan-enrages-alaska-politicians-delights-environmentalists
Obama seeks to open Atlantic to oil, gas drilling
ReplyDeleteRead more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/atlantic-oil-natural-gas-drilling-obama-114631.html#ixzz3Q3gYUQ5B
I've been in kind correspondence with a woman in Siberia, where here city, Tomsk, has developed into a major Russian IT center.
ReplyDeleteSurely, that's just one of the ways in which Alaska can look toward diversification -- what kinds of businesses and industries can trive there, and what kind of Economic Development work is being done by the powers in Juneau to map out a strategy for the next 25 years?
This is great. Not a chance it'll pass through congress, but maybe it'll lay the groundwork for monument designation or something.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of our congressional delegation pretending that opening ANWR up for development is something that ALL ALASKANS want. It's not, and we don't.
This will make Don Young so mad that his giant head will turn red and we'll see steam and a trickle of crude leaking out of his ears. Good.
I'm all for it because it makes sense and it's gonna send Sarah over the ledge into the abyss.
ReplyDeleteExactly what part of Wildlife Refuge doesn't she get? It should be off limits to drilling. Calling for war? All the feds have to do is cut off the subsidies, lets call them sanctions and see what happens. Also where does she plan to stage this war?
ReplyDeleteI am tired of these greedy people raping the earth all in the name of OIL!!!