At 08:12 PM 5/29/01 -0700 Doug Pensinger wrote:
> And no,
>John, I'm not trying to say it's the only piece or even the best piece. But
>of all the land in all the world very little of it survives unscathed and we
>ought to save as much of it as is practicable. The cost: 6 months to two
>years worth of oil for the United States. Max. Now that is truly no big deal
>in the grand scheme of things.
All I'm saying is that in Alaska we have a superabundence of wilderness
preserved as designated "Wilderness Areas" for all time. (Or at least as
long as the USA endures.) Our failure to add a few thousand acres to that
designated wilderness area will have a negligible effect upon the amount of
preserved Alaskan wilderness available to future generations. In the
meantime, energy supplies are counted one barrell at a time, and the market
has determined that the oil resources there can provide valuable energy to
the United States. As such, in the absence of this area being
particularly significant in terms of endangered species, biodiversity, or
uniqueness (in comparison to other preserved areas), I think that it is
sensible to exploit those resources in an environmentally responsible way.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Compassionate conservatism is the way to reconcile the two most vital
conservative intellectual traditions: libertarianism and Catholic social
thought."
-Michael Gerson, advisor to George W. Bush
