Drilling For Oil In Alaska. No. No. No. Noooooo.

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers around the world are uniting to talk about a single topic. The environment.

I care about the environment about as much as the next guy, maybe a little more. I recycle as much as I can. I drive a hybrid vehicle. I worry about the environment. What we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. Global warming. Hurricanes and tsunamis destroying cities. Animals becoming extinct daily. The rain forest being depleted. I don't know a lot about the hot political issues. I couldn't have defined ANWR a few years ago. But I know now. Now that I have been to Alaska. Now that I have seen it. An unspoiled, magnificent wilderness.

ANWR is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Some people want to drill for oil there. Some political people. I understand the need for oil. I understand that it is incredibly expensive. I understand that it would be nice to have our own oil instead of having to pay foreign countries for it. However. When you start drilling for oil in a gorgeous wilderness populated with wild animals, things happen. Like oil spills. In 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in the lovely Prince William Sound, off the coast of Alaska. Wild animals don't understand oil spills. They try to escape them, even when it is impossible.

There's not very many towns that have a view like Juneau, Alaska.



But that view can be spoiled when the environment is destroyed by an oil spill. Those are seabirds lined up on that beach. Covered with oil. All dead.

So instead of the view we saw through our sight seeing float plane.

Everyone saw oil creeping closer and closer to the coastline.

I want my grandson to see the same view of Alaska in twenty years that we saw.

And just in case you think the Exxon Valdez was an isolated case? One that just happened a few years ago and couldn't even happen again? In March, 2006 someone working on a pipeline in Alaska heard a gurgling sound. Before they could figure out what it was, a small leak in the pipe had released thousands of gallons of oil into Prudhoe Bay.

I know cars can run on electricity. So why can't ALL cars run on electricity?