Re: Fw: An important message from Redford

[Guest guest]

I'm sorry, I don't quite get the connection between this political message and

alternative health issues, around which this list revolves. Did I miss

something? Anyway, if you believe " Peak Oil Theory " , which seems to be gaining

respect these days, oil is history, as worldwide reserves are rapidly dwindling.

If they drill in Alaska, the U.S. is just postponing the inevitable.

AMDG,

Colleen

----- Original Message -----

From: Anne Devereaux

gallstones

Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 11:12 AM

Subject: Fw: An important message from Redford

Subject: An important message from Redford

Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,

I wanted you to know that the Bush administration is using the recent rise

in

gasoline prices as a pretext to sacrifice one of America's greatest natural

treasures -- the Western Arctic Reserve of Alaska -- to massive oil

development.

We have a very narrow window in which to block this corporate-sponsored raid

on

our natural heritage. Over the next 30 days, the Bush administration is

taking

public comments on its plan to put 96 percent of the reserve's

wildlife-filled

northeast region on the auction block.

I am asking you and hundreds of thousands of others to join me in flooding

the

Bush administration with messages of protest over the next critical weeks.

Please do your part by going to

http://www.savebiogems.org/westernarctic/takeaction.asp?RR0407

and sending an electronic message telling the Bureau of Land Management to

withdraw its destructive plan and to permanently protect the reserve's

world- class wildlife habitats.

Then please forward my message to as many people as you can.

The Western Arctic Reserve may be less well-known than the Arctic National

Wildlife Refuge -- which lies directly to the east -- but its wildlife

populations are every bit as unique, spectacular and endangered.

I am especially concerned about the Western Arctic Reserve's Teshekpuk Lake

region -- one of the most important tundra-wetland ecosystems left on our

planet. This vast network of coastal lagoons, deep water lakes, sedge grass

meadows and braided streams provides the critical calving grounds for the

45,000-member Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd.

Thirty percent of all Pacific black brant also take refuge in these safe and

remote wetlands, remaining flightless while they replace their old feathers.

Steller's eiders, northern pintails, tundra swans and rare yellow-billed

loons

are just a few of the other amazing species that flock to Teshekpuk Lake to

nest, free from disturbance. Come fall, some of these birds will migrate as

far

south as Antarctica.

Polar bears roam the coastal areas of Teshekpuk Lake from summer to early

winter. And people are counting on the lake for survival as well. The

Inupiat

Eskimos have subsisted here in balance with nature for at least 8,000 years

by

following the herds of caribou.

Incredibly, the Western Arctic has never been granted full federal

protection.

That's because it was set aside as the " National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska "

nearly a century ago. But Congress also stipulated that this oil field be

tapped only in time of dire national need.

Our government kept oil rigs out of the Western Arctic Reserve even during

the

darkest days of World War II and the oil embargo of the 1970s. As a result,

most of the reserve has remained pristine -- its primeval beauty unmarred by

roads, oil rigs or other signs of human interference.

Interior secretaries since the 1970s have recognized the need for special

protection in the Teshekpuk Lake area. But if the Bush administration gets

its

way, Teshekpuk Lake will soon be stripped of most of those protections and

sold

to the highest bidder.

And for what? Drilling in the Western Arctic would have no effect on gas

prices

at the pump. Its oil would take years to get to market and would never equal

more than one or two percent of America's oil supply -- a tiny drop in the

bucket of our nation's oil consumption.

Only one group would benefit from destroying the Western Arctic: the oil

giants. Meanwhile, they would turn one of the planet's most fragile homes

for

Arctic wildlife into an industrial zone of pipelines, producing wells and

contaminated waste sites.

The Western Arctic Reserve is supposed to be an energy savings account of

last

resort. A recent poll shows that the vast majority of Americans would rather

save oil and lower gas prices by adopting tougher fuel economy standards for

our cars and trucks.

Please join me in telling the Bush administration to follow the cleaner and

more self-reliant path of fuel efficiency -- and to put Teshekpuk Lake and

other critical habitats off limits to the oil industry.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/westernarctic/takeaction.asp?RR0407

and tell the Bush administration to withdraw its destructive plan. And

remember to forward my message to your friends, colleagues and family.

This fight represents one of our very last chances to preserve untrammeled

wilderness as we first found it. Let's speak with one voice and stop this

senseless attack on one of the world's greatest sanctuaries for Arctic

wildlife. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Redford

Board of Trustees

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

. . .

BioGems: Saving Endangered Wild Places

A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council

http://www.savebiogems.org

Note: We appreciate the opportunity to communicate with you and other NRDC

BioGems Defenders, but if you would prefer not to receive BioGems updates or

hear from BioGems activists in the field, you can send an email message to

biogemsdefenders@... with " Please remove my name " in the subject

line.

[Guest guest]

Shoot! I thought that Bob had some important Gall Bladder advice for us and

that Peak Oil Threshold was some new Olive Oil flush for the liver.

Actually, I do think it was my reaction to POLITICS (and the impact of bad

politics on what's left of our environment) that caused my gall bladder to blow

up last year. I'm serious. I was getting way too angry and way too frustrated!

Will in Minneapolis

PS I think I did hit Peak Oil a couple of times in years past at the state

fair. I

think it was the Curse of the Cheese Curds.