The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. A place of pristine beauty, unchanged for millennia. One of our nation’s last bastions of untouched wilderness, home to polar bears, a huge herd of caribou, and millions of migratory birds. But Senator Lisa Murkowski doesn’t see it that way, and she’s making sure everyone knows it.
In January, a hopping-mad Murkowski called the White House’s proposal to designate the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain as wilderness-which would protect it from oil drilling forever-a declaration of “war on Alaska’s future.” She vowed to fight the designation with every resource at her disposal. Unfortunately, Senator Murkowski’s words hold political weight: she’s the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. Furthermore, the Arctic Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan requires approval from the most anti-conservation Congress we’ve yet seen. Aside from the irony of such a “drill-baby-drill” senator being tasked with protecting our nation’s natural resources, Murkowski’s position on these committees could have serious consequences for wildlife conservation in the future.
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The Arctic Refuge is one of the most important polar bear denning areas along the Arctic Ocean.
Last month, Murkowski made her move: She introduced S. 494, the Authorizing Alaska Production Act. A direct reaction to the announcement of the wilderness recommendation, the bill would allow oil and natural gas development within the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain – literally the biological heart of the refuge. For all intents and purposes, it looks like Murkowski’s the one declaring war here.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not only an icon, but is also federal land. It belongs to all of us. Alaska’s congressional leaders don’t get to decide to destroy this refuge just because it’s in Alaska any more than Florida gets to destroy the Everglades National Wildlife Refuge just because it’s in Florida. But it’s clear that Senator Murkowski, Senator Dan Sullivan and Representative Don Young just didn’t get that memo. The inherent value of this special place to all Americans is worth far more than the short term gains for Big Oil of altering it forever.
We stand with the Obama administration in its effort to protect the Arctic Refuge: it won’t be an easy battle, but our nation’s wildlife heritage is worth the fight.
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