Jane Goodall urges U.S. Senate to halt quest for Arctic refuge oil

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Jane Goodall urges U.S. Senate to halt quest for Arctic refuge oil

By Timothy Gardner

 

Conservationist and primatologist Jane Goodall talks during her conference at the National Geographic summit in Lisbon, Portugal May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British primatologist Jane Goodall sent a letter to every U.S. senator on Tuesday urging them to oppose a push in the U.S. Congress to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a region environmentalists say is one of the world's last paradises.

 

The Republican-led Senate is trying to open up the 1002 region on the coastal plain of the ANWR, a region inhabited by Gwich'in natives, caribou herds, polar bears and millions of birds that migrate to six of the world's seven continents.

 

"If we violate the Arctic Refuge by extracting the oil beneath the land, this will have devastating impact for the Gwich'in people for they depend on the caribou herds to sustain their traditional way of life," Goodall said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

 

The ANWR's "very wildness speaks to our deeply rooted spiritual connection to nature, a necessary element of human psyche," wrote Goodall, best known for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania.

 

Last week, a group of 37 U.S.-based scientists whose research focuses on Arctic wildlife asked senators to not open the ANWR, saying that drilling would be "incompatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established."

 

The Senate energy committee on Wednesday will consider a bill spurred by Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska and the head of the panel, to hold at least two lease sales in the ANWR over the next 10 years.

 

Some Native Alaskans support drilling believing it will provide jobs. Matthew Rexford, a member of the Iñupiat tribe and the tribal administrator of the village of Kaktovik, has said he believes technological advances mean drilling can be performed with little impact to the land.

 

The administration of President Donald Trump is pursuing a policy to make the country "energy dominant" by maximizing oil, gas and coal production. Republicans say the 1002 portion of the ANWR is a "non wilderness area" because the government put it aside decades ago for drilling.

 

Republicans have attached the ANWR measure to budget legislation, which needs only 50 votes to pass the Senate, but faces hurdles with many provisions being added to it.

 

Democrats are fighting the ANWR bill saying that Republicans are trying to sneak it through the budget process, and that it would not survive as stand-alone legislation that would need 60 votes to pass.

 

Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the energy committee, told Reuters she was urging her fellow lawmakers to listen to scientists.

 

"Does it take the voice of Jane Goodall to beg Senators to stop hurting indigenous people and animals?" asked Cantwell." "She's calling on them to set a conservation example instead of creating the next tragedy."

 

(Reporting by Timothy GardnerEditing by Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-15

[boomerangutang]

Jane is the closest person, man or woman, the world now has to a living saint.

[craigt3365]

How much do you need?  Find alternatives!

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41988095

US leads world in oil and gas production, IEA says

[chilli42]

This is not about jobs creation in the Alaska wilderness.  It’s about further enriching the insanely rich and consequences be damned.  The good senators have accepted all that money which was payed out for them to abandon their morals and conscience.  They now have no choice but to vote it through.  

[Skeptic7]

Jane Goodall is all good! A lovely woman to be admired and respected. Her life's work has brought so much awareness to chimpanzees and other great apes...as well as endangered species, conservation and animal welfare. 

[LazySlipper]

Sad thing is... maybe ppl in the US will listen to her but then the Chinese for sure and maybe the Russians will go and get that oil.

[boomerangutang]

Trump will try to do as much damage as he possibly can - before he's out of office.

To add to the sadness, is he's such a dotard, that he usually doesn't know how much damage he's inflicting.  Some of the time he does, which indicates willful harm.  Other times, he realizes, much later, that he's been on the wrong track (like the birther thing or buddying-up with Russians to ensure digital safety), but he's incapable of admitting he made a mistake.

It's a similar syndrome to big game hunters.  They don't fathom the harm they're inflicting during the many years they're shooting vegetarian beasts.  Yet some of them, when they get old and infirm, suddenly get a modicum of wisdom, and realize how harmful they've been.  By then it's too late.

 

 

[halloween]

8 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Jane Goodall is all good! A lovely woman to be admired and respected. Her life's work has brought so much awareness to chimpanzees and other great apes...as well as endangered species, conservation and animal welfare. 

Undoubtedly, but does she have any knowledge of oil drilling? Would you ask a rig pig about your monkey?

[Ruffian Dick]

Sort of like a rock star raising money to help impoverished countries. They only know lyrics and guitar chords.

But they do because they can.

[greatwhitenorth]

Dame Jane Goodall DBE knows chipanzees, When there are chimpanzees in Alaska, her opinion will hold more weight.

[Skeptic7]

4 hours ago, halloween said:

Undoubtedly, but does she have any knowledge of oil drilling? Would you ask a rig pig about your monkey?

No...but neither would I ask a jack-ass-o-lantern. 

 

She understands the frailties of ecosystems...as well as empathy and compassion for her fellow earthlings. 

[Scott]

Conspiracy post and reply removed.  

[mike324]

3 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

No...but neither would I ask a jack-ass-o-lantern. 

 

She understands the frailties of ecosystems...as well as empathy and compassion for her fellow earthlings. 

some folks here can't connect the dots, sad

[Stargeezr]

They will only drill and export the Arctic oil until the third or fourth oil spill,  then they may re think their strategy.

Geezer

[craigt3365]

14 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

They will only drill and export the Arctic oil until the third or fourth oil spill,  then they

may re think their strategy.

Geezer

Like here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/16/us/keystone-pipeline-leak/index.html

Keystone Pipeline leaks 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota