The "drill wild America
first" energy policy approved by the House
of Representatives Thursday threatens to permanently
damage many of the nation's wildest lands,
says a study released on August 1 by The Wilderness
Society.
The
report highlights 16 at-risk wildlands most likely
to be immolated to the industrial development
of oil and gas companies.
"From the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to the Finger Lakes National Forest in New York,
the Bush administration wants to eliminate existing
protections for many of America's wildest lands," says
William H. Meadows, President of the Wilderness
Society. "These places provide clean drinking
water, outstanding places to hike, hunt or fish,
and are home to a stunning variety of wildlife.
Some places are just too special to drill."
Sponsoring the bill is Republican House representative
Jim Hansen of Utah, which is home to three of
the wildlands most at risk. Among the bill's
many provisions is a mandate to lease the heart
of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge for oil
drilling.
"If the bill is enacted, the Arctic refuge
would be sacrificed for what the US Geological
Survey estimates is six months worth of oil," says
Jim Waltman, director of Refugees and Wildlife
for the Wilderness Society. "This amazing
place is home to an extraordinary array of wildlife,
including polar bears, caribou and millions of
migratory birds. We can meet the nation's energy
needs without destroying our national treasures."
Some, however, contend that the bill will create
more than just oil reserves. Undermining the
influence of many environmental groups, several
unions, including the United Auto Workers and
the Teamsters, threw their support to the bill
in hopes that it will create job opportunities.
Rep. Hansen's legislation will require the Departments
of Interior and Agriculture to determine what
regulations stand the way of energy development
on public lands. It will also exempt oil and
gas companies from paying billions of dollars
in royalties owed to taxpayers, according to
the Wilderness Society report.
"The Bush administartaion and its allies
in the oil and gas industry inaccurately caim
that most of our public lands are off limits
to energy development," said Dave Alberswerth,
director of The Wilderness Society's Bureau of
Land Management program. "In fact, the vast
majority of our public lands, including 95 percent
of the lands managed by the BLM in the Rocky
Mountain states are open to drilling."
The oil and gas industry, he says, has taken
full advantage of this access with widespread
exploration and development activities. Thousands
of drilling permits are issued every year to
more than 55,000 oil and gas-producing wells
on public lands.
"This bill is inappropriately focused only
on increasing energy production from federal
lands," Meadows says. "It contains
no recognition of the importance of protecting
other resources on federal land, or of viewing
the issue in a balanced, comprehensive manner."
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