Some individuals believe that using the wilderness for drilling of oil purposes will solve the US and its dependency on foreign oil. Through this article, Democratic congressman Edward J. Markey, alongside Representative Nancy Johnson, discuss the reasons for which they want to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or the ANWR, and other wilderness reserves from being developed on and industrialized. This wildlife reserve has been labeled as being one of the most magnificent reserves found in America. Unfortunately, people want to encroach on this territory and use it to increase the nation’s oil and gas development. This is not the first time that the reserve has been threatened but it is the most extreme. If this reserve were to be taken over by these industrialists, we would lose all form of wildlife available in this area including its endangered species.
The primary reasons that these two representatives want to protect the ANWR is because they want to keep the legacy of former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter alive. These presidents, in addition to several senators since their presidential terms, have worked hard
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However, the United States government is one of the few countries that actually has the money to continue importing oil from foreign nations. Why not continue to use it? Markey states that even if we were to use our own land for the drilling of oil, “it would only reduce our foreign oil dependence from 56 percent today to 50 percent 10 years from now” (Markey, 2001, para 18). In a nutshell, this is logically not a big enough percentage difference to make us even want to consider drilling on American soil with the immense possibility that this attack on the environment would kill and/or relocate hundreds of thousands of wildlife creatures and nature’s plant
The Time article “A High-Plains Showdown Over the Dakota Access Pipeline” by Justin Worland talks about a controversy over a 1,200-mile pipeline stretching from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline is called the Dakota Access Pipeline project and is being built by the Energy Transfer Partners company. Some people are outraged by the pipeline because it contributes to man-made climate change. Others are mainly outraged because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe never agreed to the construction of the pipeline. The leaders of the tribe say that “Washington never considered their concerns, as required by the federal law” (Worland).
With rising gas prices and an increasing reliance on nonrenewable resources, finding a reliable source for extracting and transporting oil has become an issue. In 2010, the Keystone Pipeline project was proposed and commissioned by TransCanada. Essentially, this is a pipeline that transports oil sands bitumen across the Canada-US border and into several different reserves in the States. An additional extension to the Keystone Pipeline, the Keystone XL Pipeline, has also been proposed. Several issues arise when considering the consequences of this new proposal, including the potential for oil spills and habitat damage.
Jimmy Carter wrote this essay to persuade his audience that industry should not develop Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for its resources . Carter used evidence, such as facts and examples to support his claim. In Carter’s writing, he clearly shows the reader how the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge remains America’s last truly great wilderness. Many animals live there, for example, the polar bears, caribou, Dall sheep, and wolves.
Tony Bridges an anti-wolf supporter and writer, claims that this foreign species is, “much larger and more aggressive” (Bridges, 2011), than the wolves that previously existed here. This claim is formed from the understanding that the wolves reintroduced in the lower 48 states, were transplanted from various parts of Alberta and British Columbia in Canada. Consequently this, “larger and more aggressive subspecies...has destroyed big game populations in many areas and are making a serious impact on elk, deer, moose and all other big game animals throughout their ranges” (Bridges, 2011). Bridges believes that the reintroduction was carried through in order to spite hunting privileges of citizens. He protests, “The biggest threat to hunting today are self-proclaimed "environmental" organizations, who want to control our outdoor resources…Not for their love of wildlife or the environment...
I’m sitting in my room in my house in Washington and all of a sudden I hear a knock on the door. It’s the government and they said that they will be digging up my backyard for an environmentally friendly piece of equipment. Sounds absurd, right? Well, this is what happening in the Dakotas to Native Americans.
The author writes of personal experiences and thoughts to show the importance of the Wildlife refuge in more than just a factual standpoint. Carter notes how disappointed and saddened he would be if the Refuge was destroyed, “Standing on the coastal plain, I was saddened to think of the tragedy that might occur if this great wilderness was consumed by a web of roads and pipelines, drilling rigs and industrial facilities.” This adds power to the argument furthermore, as he demonstrates his attachment to the area and animals living there, “During bright July days, we walked along ancient caribou trails and studied the brilliant mosaic of wildflowers, mosses, and lichens that hugged the tundra… we watched muskox, those shaggy survivors of the Ice Age, lumber along braided rivers that meander toward the Beaufort Sea.” This then gives us a connection to the Refuge so we are more affected to the possible outcome of it being built into an industrial
Benedek Sandor Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Essay Jimmy Carter, a former U.S. president, visited the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with his wife where he decided that this natural beauty is something that he wanted to protect. He witnessed tens of thousands of caribou migrating across the tundra with their newborn calves. Carter became saddened to think what might happen if this beauty was destroyed so he signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980 to protect the wilderness. Carter uses reasoning and evidence to develop ideas and strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument.
My perceptions regarding Alaskan drilling have not changed, I believe that the Alaskan Wilderness should not be drilled for oil. My decision rests on the fact that the Alaskan wilderness is an irreplaceable natural resource and the possible oil resources it may or may not yield, are not worthy of its destruction. Viewing this situation as a dispassionate observer, there is no overwhelming motive for the U.S. to drill in Alaska. Scientists have largely stated that the oil reserves in Alaska may not yield the amount or quality of oil once believed, therefore it does not warrant the expenditure of time, money, and resources to disrupt the environment. Advocates argue that drilling would decrease fuel prices, create new jobs, and end our foreign
Fracking Protest and the Fight for Aboriginal Rights, David Shwartz and Mark Gollom of CBC News begin by providing the information that it is Canada’s “duty to consult and accommodate aboriginal people when the development is on their traditional land.” Non-aboriginal people in New Brunswick also opposed fracking in the area. Because of this, the county’s council “voted nearly unanimously for a moratorium on shale gas exploitation” (Shwartz & Gollom para.8). Stephen Augustine, principal of Unama’ki College, explained how the rights to lands or resources of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet people were never surrendered in treaties, but that the treaties were of “peace and friendship,” which the Canadian government has acknowledged. Bill Gallagher, the author of Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources who spent the first third of his life in New Brunswick, believed this protest was a part of a continuum; that there are issues the government must go back to address, and a cooling-off period is needed.
“Benefits of Governmental Compromise Regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline” Nations all have unique governments and differences necessary for demonstrating successful leadership. Every country needs different assistance from their leadership, such as Rio requiring infrastructure or Somalia lacking political power. Some governments concern themselves with their politicians’ well-being more so than the people they lead, which creates a relevant problem in America. The United States Government can easily forget about Native American Reservations, or even ignore the people living on them. Recently, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has worked on the Dakota Access Pipeline project, which would cross over Native American ancestral lands,
In the wake of the prevalence of industrialize among the United States, the former U.S president Jimmy Carter proposed that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not supposed to be developed for industry in his foreword to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and land, A photographic Journey by Subhankar Banerjee. Jimmy Carter effectively builds his argument by logically utilizing pathos, logos, and ethos to plead with the audiences to take his side. Jimmy Carter employs pathos to appeal to the audience’s emotion for supporting his argument. In paragraph seven, Jimmy Carter takes a stand on the position of American citizens to consider the issue of industry developing, and he suggests that “instead of tearing open the heart of our greatest refuge, we should use our resource more wisely.” To offer a proposal, Jimmy Carter as a citizen
Since he left office, there have been many proposals to open the Arctic Refuge coastal plain to oil drilling. They’ve all been denied because of the opposition by the American people, including the Gwich’in Athabascan Indians of Alaska and Canada, indigenous people whose culture has depended on the Porcupine caribou herd for thousands of years. The short-term economic gain is not worth destroying their homes. He said the Arctic Refuge may provide 1 to 2 percent of the oil our country consumes each day. We can easily conserve more than that amount by driving more fuel-efficient vehicles, we should just use our resources more wisely instead.
Tundra Biome According to our textbook by Sylvia S. Mader, community is an “assemblage of populations interacting with one another in the same environment.” Humans live in the tundra biome, which is a good definition for this particular ecosystem. People have to dress well and very warm.
Controversy Surrounding the Keystone XL Pipeline To build or not to build, this choice will impact the relationship between the US and Canada and determine the level of dependence the US will have on countries that are not so friendly. “TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL Pipeline would transport oil sands crude from Canada and shale oil produced in North Dakota and Montana to a market hub in Nebraska for delivery to Gulf Coast refineries. The pipeline would consist of 875 miles of 36-inch pipe with the capacity to transport 830,000 barrels per day” (Parfomak, Pirog, Luther and Vann 4). The construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline would strengthen the United States economy, provide energy security and have minimal environmental impact. “The Keystone XL project would create $1.1 trillion in private capital investment at no
There are several groups who are not in favor of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. One of these groups is the Environmentalists.