ANWR Oil Drilling

It's interesting how activists can keep people in the dark about basic facts when they are against something that actually makes sense to do. I was at a museum in Temecula California today and when one of the volunteer workers there found out I was from Alaska she asked me what Alaskans thought of the ANWR oil exploration project. I told her that almost everybody in Alaska approved of it, explained the economic impact for Alaska, and asked if she wanted to know anything else about it. She then asked about what Alaskans thought of the environmental impact of drilling for oil in ANWR and expressed the same concerns that the know-nothing environmental activists have been screaming ever since the project was suggested.

Here's what I explained to her:

First: The section of ANWR that is being explored for oil is tiny. To give you a sense of scale it is about the size of this symbol * as compared to your monitor. ANWR is vast, bigger than all of Texas, and drilling in such a puny portion of it will not destroy the reserve.

Second: The caribou herds and other wildlife will not be harmed by the drilling or the resulting pipelne. History has shown that wildlife actually increases around pipelines in Alaska. History has shown that pipelines do not interfere with the various migrations in Alaska. There will be no negative impact of building more oil and natural gas pipelines in Alaska.

Third: Alaskans understand the damage a major oil spill can cause, and it is why we are so careful to scrupulously maintan the oil pipeline we already have. It is highly unlikely there will be any major spills from the pipeline or the oil rigs themselves.

Fourth: The same knuckleheads opposing the oil exploration project also demand we develop alternative energy sources, but turn around and oppose the alternative energy sources we develop. Case and point: A smorgasboard of Massachussetts Democrats who complain about the burning of fossil fuels and and oil exploration have decided to oppose the building of offshore windmills, not based on any scientific evidence, but because they worry that such a windmill farm will ruin their view of the ocean from the Hamptons. They claim that a windmill farm will disrupt whale and fish migrations, disrupt shipping, etc. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The deep ocean is like a vast desert where very little actually lives as compared to the shallower coastal areas and the continental shelf. Oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have become artificial reefs were life flourishes where once there was very little, providing a boon the Gulf ecosystem. Offshore windmill farms in Europe are proving to be the same. The windmills are placed far apart so as not to disrupt shipping lanes or provide choke points for whale and fish migrations. The fact is that hese windmill farms provide clean, renewable energy while creating a reef where life blooms and flourishes without disruption of anything. They are also built far out at sea where the visual impact is minimized.

The people who oppose such a wonderful, clean, renewable energy source that enhances rather than damages the environment are the same ones who oppose drilling in ANWR. These people are cretins who care less about the environment than they do about themselves and their own selfish desires. They oppose good things simply because they don't like the people who support them. In other words, they are playing politics with our environment, our economy, and our lives. If you don't like this then vote them out of office. You can also remember to vote for me when I run for president in about twenty years. Unlike certain morons, I actually listen to the scientists, not the activists, and you should vote for other people who do the same. You'll find the right thing gets done far more often that way.

About the lady I was spreaking to, she is one of those wonderful people who has an open mind and is willing to listen to facts when she hears them. She now thinks drilling for oil in ANWR is a wonderful thing that will help the economy in America, and in Alaska in particular. She now understands the actual environmental impact and believes everything will be okay. And you know what? She's right.