ANWR: Paradise Of Alaska … Yeah, Drill It!
My sister is taking her boys on an Alaskan cruise in July, instead of their usual Gulf Of Mexico romp.
Lots to do and see … Hope her pictures will be a bit more thrilling than these …
The Fate Of ANWR.
By Jonah Goldberg - (NRO)
[ … ]
Since my cover story on ANWR — and related columns — came out, I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail from people. I will get around to the critics elsewhere and later because I don’t have the time here and now. But I will respond to one request. A number of people have mentioned that they’d love to see pictures of what the real ANWR looks like. Some people are especially distressed by the pictures in the latest issue of National Geographic that apparently show beautiful mountain vistas and the like.
Well, those pictures are accurate, I’m sure, even though I haven’t seen them. They’re just not pictures of the sliver of ANWR where the drilling would be. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a lot of pictures while I was up there, and the ones I took weren’t intended for publication so much as for visual note taking.
Still, I do have a few shots that will give you a sense of what it looks like up there on the coastal plain. They are of mediocre quality — taken from the cockpit of a small, very jerky plane — so don’t give me grief about how I’m no Ansel Adams or how I’m being unfair by showing crappy pictures of what Joe Lieberman calls “one of God’s most awesome creations.” Also, I don’t have time to check against my written notes, so some of these pictures may be of the Prudhoe Bay side of the Canning River, which forms the border of ANWR’s coastal plain. The important thing is that it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the ANWR side and the Prudhoe side without checking my notes and a map.
So, this and this [133, 134] are pictures of one of the spots where the Canning River lets out into the Arctic Ocean. Just beyond it is ANWR. And this and this [144, 145] are pictures of what I believe is a typical oil-loading facility on what amounts to the coastal plain on the Prudhoe side of the Canning River. This [142] is a typical pipeline running over the tundra and so is this [143]. This [140] is what the coastal plain and most of the tundra in Prudhoe look like, complete with the puddles I described. And so is this [141]. And so is this [137]. There some places without the puddles, however [196].
Now, as for the mountains in ANWR: There are many beautiful mountain ranges in this South Carolina-sized wilderness. But the ones closest to the coastal plain are not covered in lush trees, as you might think from looking at the media coverage. This far north it’s too cold, dark, and bleak during the winter for trees to survive. So these mountains are impressive geologically, but — at least from what I saw — they look like barren, massive piles of gravel. For example: [169] [179] [171]. And some have really cool glacier-ice formations on them, like this [178]. But remember, these [180] are still very far from this [150].
I did see some caribou closer than this [150] but I didn’t snap any good pictures. As you can see [151], they are hanging out on the shore of the Arctic Ocean trying to escape the bugs. I like to call the one on the very far left-hand corner Arthur. Speaking of the Arctic Ocean, the ice never really goes away [152]. Here you can see the dividing line between what were two giant sheets of ice [154]. That line is not man-made in any way.
And finally, this is me [131] looking like a doofus in hardhat and goggles at the Alpine Oil installation. The reason I don’t look fatter is that standing against a large petroleum facility has a beneficial slimming effect, which is the real reason why I am favor of opening up ANWR. I do not pretend that you couldn’t take prettier pictures up close on the tundra where the drilling might be, but that’s not why I was there. And, besides, you couldn’t take pictures of beautiful mountains where the drilling would be because, well, there are no mountains of any kind where the drilling would be.
Anyway, I’ve got more pictures, but that should do the trick. Besides, this didn’t save me any time anyway. I’ll just have to wing the speech.
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Drill it!!!!!!!!
Kudos to drillanwr
June 11th, 2008 at 1:15 pmWait … Is THAT a fucking gum wrapper next to the filthy leaking pipeline in the 4th picture?
A gum wrapper?
Oh, that does it … The environmentalists were right … Don’t drill it!
June 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pmVOTE DEMOCRAT - PAY AT THE PUMP
June 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pmThe best way to get drilling to start in anwr is for Fox news and other conservative media to go to the people there and interview them about whether they want us to drill. they have said in the past they want the oil companies to drill and they are the ones who live off that land. they know that the companies will do their best to preserve the land from environmental degredation.
June 11th, 2008 at 5:09 pmPicture’s of a typical wasteland, till man gets out there and harvests some resources.
June 11th, 2008 at 5:34 pm“…go to the people there and interview them about whether they want us to drill.”
Talking caribou?
June 11th, 2008 at 5:36 pmThe oil rich waters off the beaches of Santa Barbara used to seep (a natural occurence) oil and natural gas. Since the oil platforms were put in, there is no longer seepage and therefore you can walk on the beaches now without getting sticky black gunk all over your feet. These oil companies do their job well. The oil platforms are now virtual hotbeds of marine life now. I hear the same is true for the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, I have read, the fishermen of Florida (a no oil drill area) come to the Gulf side to fish. To stupidly say that our oil companies would be irresponsible with the environment especially with so many people watching, is so, so, well…..so Dimmi Dumb!!
June 11th, 2008 at 6:06 pmFor years the press and environmentalists has been using footage of Denali and passing it off as ANWAR to build opposition to drilling. Anwar is mostly barren
June 11th, 2008 at 6:25 pmI wonder how long it’s been since any of these conservationists have laid eyes on this terr1rtory. If ever.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:04 pm@Kim - You are absolutely correct about the fish. However there are no platforms within 200 miles of Florida except for the Cuban ones. The platforms begin off of Mobile, LA but mostly off of Louisiana on the west side of the Mississippi River to around the Texas border. There are not very many off of Texas as compared to Louisiana.
As for Florida, to simulate the platforms, artificial reefs are built with old tires and placed in “leased” areas to attract fish on the Gulf side, but NO oil and gas going on there at all.
I thought that the last platform had been removed off of Santa Barbara a few years ago?
June 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm@drillanwar Yes that is the place to drill and drill and drill. I am not sure of the capacity of the pipeline to Valdez though. Would we need another alongside it for additional capacity?
Also, North Slope crude is known as pretty high in sulfur. What is the anticipated sulfur content of the ANWAR crude?
June 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pmThey’re still here. Oil is pumped by Veneco. They give tours of the platforms and educate the public. I met a S.O.A.R. team that were doing night ops with their Blackhawk over the water and were intending to “assault” one of the platforms. Always wondered how that went
That article I read which stated the Florida fishermen go to Gulf platforms because of the abundance of fish–I didn’t realize that was over 200 miles! The fishing must be SO much better to justify 400 mile round trip!
In fact, the enviros that insisted the platforms absolutely, positively, must come down when the production was done, are now crying that the platforms must stay!
June 11th, 2008 at 8:58 pm