Bush fires up Arctic oil debate

by Lisa Cardy

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PRESIDENT Clinton has used his final hours at the WhiteHouse to limit oil exporation in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

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The�untouched environment providing a haven for wildlife had been earmarked by incoming US President George W Bush for oil exploration.

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Bush wants to exploit the�1.5 million acres of coastal plain for its fossil fuels to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.

Bush has named Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior, responsible for land use. The appointment has appalled environmentalists. Norton�pushed for developing this undisturbed rural wilderness�when she held a previous appointment at the Interior Department.

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The refuge has been compared to the African Serengeti, because of its abundance of migrating birds, polar bears, musk oxen, porcupine caribou, grizzly bears and other wildlife. The refuge provides a safe calving ground for a 200,000 porcupine caribou herd, one of the largest free-roaming herds left in the world.

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All this would be destroyed if the oil extractors were allowed to move in, claim the environmentalists. The exploration would have transformed the landscape, carving it up with a network of pipelines, airstrips, access roads. This could have made it impossible for pregnant cows and newborn calves to survive.

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It's not the first time the refuge has faced threats from oil prospectors. Bush's father, George Bush senior, first suggested exploiting the wilderness in the late 1980s. A timely warning in the form of the Exxon Valdez catastrophe, which spilled 40 million litres of crude oil in Prince William Sound poisoning birds, marine life and staining pristine beaches, put a stop to the plans.

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Not deterred by such disasters, Bush junior has said repeatedly that the oil can be�extracted without harming the environment. The environmentalists, however, are already planning protests for when Norton makes her Senate confirmation hearings. They will want to ensure that the oil and gas companies cannot get to the 13 national 'monuments' Clinton has created and are kept out of the rest of the refuge.

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