Even with the amazingly huge amount of pork Uncle Ted sends back to the state he is so out of touch with, he is becoming an embarrassment. That and his lying thieving spawn he calls a son. They just breed this sort of contempt for honesty and the law into their children. It doesn't mater to them that this is extortion, so long as they get their way.

Opening ANWR to oil exploration wouldn't be such a bad idea IF, and this is a HUGE IF; the Feds and the State of Alaska would hold the oil companies and the service companies responsible for any spill or contamination. Enforce posting of a surety bond of sufficient amount to cover the costs of recovery and clean-up (probably would take $1 Billion), and sign a fair contract for the feds and the state regarding taxes to be paid.

But this will never happen under the Republikans in DC or Governor Frank "Murky Dealings" Murkowski. They make the Mafia look like amatures.

Knowing that they'd never get drilling in ANWR approved with honest debate

Hello, Mr. Pot. Kettle calling! You don't know your ass from a teakettle when it comes to ANWR. Try looking up the facts before you start talking about "honest debate." Exploratory drilling in ANWR was first authorized--hold on to you hat--during the Carter administration.

The moonbat enviros have told one lie after another when it comes to oil exploration in Alaska. Remember when they all pissed and moaned that the oil pipeline would devastate the caribou? Hmm, seems the caribou herds are even larger now than before the pipeline was built. These same lying enviros (you know, the same one who planted fake lynx fur in Colorado and Wyoming to try to prevent development on private property) keep talking about the "pristine" ANWR but somehow forget about all those roads and buildings you can find there.

The proposed drilling area is less than 5% of ANWR for approximately 10 billion barrels of oil. You piss and moan about energy dependency, then don't want to do anything about it. Kinda like Ted "What Bridge?" Kennedy talking out his considerable ass about energy independence but then nixing a wind farm near Hyannis because he would ruin his views.

'Hmm, seems the caribou herds are even larger now than before the pipeline was built.'

This statement by bean would be significant….. if true. By the way, bean, where did you get your information? Was it a study performed by field biologists, or from Rush and right wing think tanks (who obviously have a political agenda). Well, as a biologist myself I couldn't just take you at your word and searched for a government report of a biological population study for arctic caribou (see
http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/resman/nrm/caribou.htm#_Toc472741843). Funny, that's not the conclusion the biologists drew. This reminds me of the time I heard a rightwinger make the claim that hunters were the TRUE CONSERVATIONISTS! His claim was based on fees from hunting going to support wildlife and the fact that when human hunters were barred from hunting in the boundaries of Grand Canyon the deer there starved because their number increased out of control (which they did). Well, hunting fees are a form of tax, not a voluntary contribution (in other words, you're forced into paying the fee) so he gets no credit for that one. As far as the Grand Canyon deer are concerned I just can't imagine how those deer populations were kept under control until the last several decades? Think, think dammit!!! Hmmmmmm??? Do ya' think that they might have been controlled in the past by NATURAL hunters, predators like the mountain lion, (which populations were themselves decimated by the TRUE CONSERVATIONISTS)? Your not doing ‘faith-based science’ are ya', bean? The kind that tries to slip in creationism (oops, I mean intelligent design) into my biology classrooms? The same 'science' that claims God gave us this planet to do what we please (see Ann Coulter) and the rapture is coming so why conserve any god damn thing? The reason why I'm (and others are) concerned is because worldwide wilderness is disappearing, and with it biological diversity. Many (most?) Republican politicians seem to not have a good track record of making polluters clean up after themselves or for their support for endangered species. This episode seems more profit driven than a true effort to make the United States energy independent. Show me your rightwing allies are serious about energy other than drilling everywhere. Of course, I know we need the oil. But how does going through our own dwindling supplies here in America get us to energy independence? Personally, I think we eventually will drill in ANWR, but we should put it off until the country really needs it, which will be farther in the future. Hopefully our technology by then will create far less disturbance to the ecosystem then it now does. Bean, I'd even be willing to do it today provided that Republicans agree to approve legislation to seriously enforce reducing our dependence on oil by, a) very significantly increasing fuel efficiency for our vehicles, and b) stop screwing around wasting time (see my comment on the rapture above) and back a serious expansion of the scientific research into alternative sources of energy, especially SOLAR energy (as the sun is, after all, the ultimate source of energy on Earth). But call me cynical for the efforts by the Republicans to drill ANWR right now!!!

So assuming you've got your facts straight (and that's a big if), your contention is there's already some development there. It doesn't at all follow that "more" development would be OK for the ANWR, and it's ridiculous to think that "more" development would result in more caribou.

Or wait -- when you say there's more caribou, is it because the development eliminated all of their predators?

Check your facts and get back to me.

"dingbat enviros"?

Ummm. Dingbat enviros might piss and moan about energy dependency. I do not know.

People who are concerned about the environment, however, are concerned about profligate energy use, and short-sighted development decisions. ANWR is just another example of the latter.

I am a Vietnam Vet. Served with the lst. I was there in 69/70. I an currenly on disability checks from the Government. I'm trying to set up an organization that could help vets. I would be looking for money to help pay bills, meds, etc. Thanks,

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