Heads up tinfoil hat wearers!

[mandyky]

Just heard on CNN on On the Money - the male commentator (not cafferty) said "if there's no news on Iraq or a terrorist attack voters will start concentrating on the Environment. Apparently, the Dept of the Interior wants to open 900 acres of the Arctic Refuge in Alaska.

[gristy]

1. 900 acres??

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Plan to open almost 9 million acres

Friday, January 23, 2004

By JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton signed off on a plan Thursday for opening most of an 8.8 million-acre swath of Alaska's North Slope to oil and gas development. Some of the drilling could occur in areas important for migratory birds, whales and wildlife.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management will use the plan to manage a northwest portion of the government's 23.5 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Geologists believe the reserve may contain 6 billion to 13 billion barrels of oil.

It is located just west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where President Bush wants to open a 1.5 million-acre coastal plain to drilling as one of his top energy priorities. The Senate, in debating a massive energy bill, has rejected drilling there.

Environmentalists said the management plan threatens the health of Arctic tundra, ponds and lakes that are home to wildlife and migratory birds and provide a vital subsistence hunting and fishing ground for native Alaskans.