Bush opening North Slope up to drilling, let wildlife be damned. [View All]

[xray s]

Wow. The Dom Perignon laced vomit in the Big Oil hospitality suite at Bush's inauguration has barely been wiped up and out comes BushCo with a big bouquet to their dear friends in "the business". We have to fight this one folks...HARD!


http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/22/us_to_allow_oil_exploration_in_protected_area_of_alaska/

US to allow oil exploration in protected area of Alaska
By Associated Press | January 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Citing a need for domestic energy sources, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou.

The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with ''minimal impact" on the area's wildlife.

While most of the 22 million-acre reserve is open to oil development, its lake-pocked northeastern corner has been fenced off, dating back to the Reagan administration, because of environmental concerns. That area also is viewed as having the highest oil and gas potential within the reserve.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton is expected to sign off on the bureau's recommendation next week, said a department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a final action has not been announced.