But Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski refused to accept that decision. She and residents of the tiny community of King Cove are fighting to have the decision overturned.
The rig was at the mercy of the north Pacific’s relentless waves for six days until salvage crews managed to attach a tow line and begin moving it to a safe harbor where they plan to assess how heavily it was damaged.
The Bureau of Land Management has announced it will protect special wildlife habitat for caribou, migratory birds, grizzly bears, wolves and polar bears in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which is also known as the Western Arctic Reserve.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it took the action “due to BP’s lack of business integrity,” and that the ban would remain in place until BP proves it can meet federal business standards. That’s good news.
When my career began in the late 1990s, one of my arguments for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling was that we already had a place for Arctic resource development — a place that actually had “petroleum reserve” as part of its name.
Sadly, the answer is always the same. Because of Alaska’s remoteness and lack of infrastructure, and Shell’s inadequate technology, the company would recover very little – if any – spilled oil.
Alaska is renowned for some of the most beautiful, wild scenery in the world. A land of epic wildlife migrations and vast undeveloped wilderness, Alaska truly is the nation’s last, great wild frontier.
