The ARNWR is located in Alaska. Animals such as caribou herds, polar bears, grizzly bears, muskox, dall sheep, wolves, and many different types of birds. It provides recreational activities and natural resources. This piece of land was established in 1960 and expanded in 1980, it is currently 30,136 sq miles. On the "Fish & Wildlife Service" website run by the U.S. government, the description said "the refuge continues to be valued... as a symbol of America's vast and remote wilderness - a place of inspiration and beauty". The ANWR space also provides space for Eskimo and Gwich'in Indian cultures to be sustained.
The controversy encircling ANWR is whether or not to extract the natural resources located on its grounds. The pictures below depicts the specific areas in which resources were found and the proportion to the entirety of ANWR and to Alaska.
The argument for allowing the company Shell to drill in ANWR is that it is a "local" source of energy. Getting energy from our Alaska, rather then from turbulent countries in the Middle East, increases our national security. With America less involved in the Middle East we may be less meddle some in their affairs creating a better relationship between us. Energy harvested on our own lands is also significantly cheaper because money needs to be paid to foreign governments for rights and less energy is needed to transport the resources. The drilling will also create jobs and stimulate the economy. Below are a some cartoons that reiterate the pro-drilling in ANWR view.
The first comic argues that the amount of space the drilling would take up is minimal compared to the expansiveness of ANWR. It argues that this little point will have no grand or disastrous effect on the rest of the refuge.
This second comic is making a jab at environmentalists and conversationalists. It's saying that they are too concerned with caribou and other endangered species when they will be just fine when a little bit of space is taken away from them in order to benefit the economy. The comic also argues that the piece of land conversationalists are trying to save is not really worth protecting because it's a "barren ice field".
A preview of my next blog post:
Resources:
(pro drilling website) http://www.anwr.org/
(government's site for ANWR) http://www.fws.gov/alaska/nwr/arctic/
(article about drilling in ANWR) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/science/earth/shell-arctic-ocean-drilling-stands-to-open-new-oil-frontier.html?_r=0
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