The Irony of Bush's Assault on ANWR
by Jim Hightower
Prior to the vote defeating the Campbell amendment, Jim Hightower wrote this article on the irony of the assault on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:
George W has shown again and
again that he won't ever let reality get in the way of ideology –
whether the issue is his Iraq attack, global warming, privatization of
Social Security, tax cuts for the rich… whatever.
Now the Bushites are even
pushing ideology over geology. BushCheney&Company are determined to
win congressional approval of their plan to allow oil companies to
drill and pump in the pristine reaches of ANWR – the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. George has even played the security card, declaring
that “our national security makes it urgent” to open this unspoiled
wilderness to the oil giants.
But, in a gusher of political
irony, guess what? The oil giants have little interest in drilling
there! Even a Bush advisor on this issue confided that “No oil company
really cares about ANWR,” adding that “If the government gave them the
[drilling] leases for free they wouldn't take them.” Indeed, Chevron
Texaco, BP, and ConocoPhillips have so little interest in ANWR that
they have withdrawn from Arctic Power, the chief lobbying front behind
Bush's push to open the refuge.
Why the corporate disinterest?
Because, unlike George, companies have to base their decisions at least
partially on reality, and the geological reality is that ANWR doesn't
hold enough oil to make private investment there worthwhile. Only one
actual test of the refuge's oil potential has been done – a secret test
by Chevron Texaco and BP, two of the giants that have now backed away
from Bush's ANWR scheme. If it had real production potential, these
profit-seekers would be lobbying hard to get in there.
What's really behind the
Bushites' insistence on drilling in a wildlife refuge is nothing but
their reactionary, knee-jerk laissez-faire ideology. They hate the idea
that the public can protect any piece of nature from corporate
intrusion – even if the corporations don't choose to intrude. ANWR is a
case of their ideological loopiness.
So, the American public gets a piece of legislation without a real constituency – again!
Blog For Iowa 