From Congressman Adam Smith
Thank you for taking the time to contact me to express your support for protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). I appreciated reading your comments and would like to share my thoughts on this issue. PRIVATE
Please allow me a moment to explain why I think preserving ANWR is so critical.
First, I believe our country needs to develop a long term sustainable energy policy. We depend too heavily on foreign oil, but the answer is not drilling in ANWR. Rather, we need to increase our fuel efficiency standards and further develop alternative technologies. In fact, if every car in this country got three miles to the gallon more for six years we would save the amount of oil that supporters of drilling claim could be extracted from the Arctic.
Second, I oppose drilling in ANWR because I believe drilling would adversely affect the Gwich'in people. The Gwich'in people depend on the porcupine caribou herd for their subsistence and culture, and the herd uses ANWR as the birthing ground. For thousands of years the Gwich'in people have respected the porcupine caribous' right to birth their young in peace and only taken enough caribou for their own subsistence. The relationship is very similar to the buffalo and the Native Americans of the Midwest.
However, ANWR is still untouched, and we have the opportunity to use what we learned from the near extinction of the buffalo and keep an entire culture intact.The porcupine caribou are not the only species that inhabits these 19.6 million acres. ANWR is home to polar and grizzly bears, wolves, and millions of birds. All of these animals are part of an ecosystem this is fully intact. Every year our county spends billions of dollars to restore habitats that were destroyed by human development. While I am very supportive of these efforts, with ANWR we have the opportunity to stop human development before we have the need to spend billions of dollars for restoration and keep this pristine area untouched. By keeping ANWR closed to drilling we will protect our country's last diverse natural habitat.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please be assured that I will oppose any legislation that would allow for drilling in ANWR. Feel free to call, e-mail, or write any time you have a comment or concern.
Adam Smith
Member of Congress
Please allow me a moment to explain why I think preserving ANWR is so critical.
First, I believe our country needs to develop a long term sustainable energy policy. We depend too heavily on foreign oil, but the answer is not drilling in ANWR. Rather, we need to increase our fuel efficiency standards and further develop alternative technologies. In fact, if every car in this country got three miles to the gallon more for six years we would save the amount of oil that supporters of drilling claim could be extracted from the Arctic.
Second, I oppose drilling in ANWR because I believe drilling would adversely affect the Gwich'in people. The Gwich'in people depend on the porcupine caribou herd for their subsistence and culture, and the herd uses ANWR as the birthing ground. For thousands of years the Gwich'in people have respected the porcupine caribous' right to birth their young in peace and only taken enough caribou for their own subsistence. The relationship is very similar to the buffalo and the Native Americans of the Midwest.
However, ANWR is still untouched, and we have the opportunity to use what we learned from the near extinction of the buffalo and keep an entire culture intact.The porcupine caribou are not the only species that inhabits these 19.6 million acres. ANWR is home to polar and grizzly bears, wolves, and millions of birds. All of these animals are part of an ecosystem this is fully intact. Every year our county spends billions of dollars to restore habitats that were destroyed by human development. While I am very supportive of these efforts, with ANWR we have the opportunity to stop human development before we have the need to spend billions of dollars for restoration and keep this pristine area untouched. By keeping ANWR closed to drilling we will protect our country's last diverse natural habitat.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please be assured that I will oppose any legislation that would allow for drilling in ANWR. Feel free to call, e-mail, or write any time you have a comment or concern.
Adam Smith
Member of Congress
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 10:14 AM
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