3-Week Old Alaskan Rallies Fellow Citizens To Protect Arctic Refuge By Joining www.ArcticRibbon.org

Congress moved a step closer last week to opening the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. This saddened my son Ari and many other young Alaskans. So Ari's decided it's finally time to take action by joining www.ArcticRibbon.org. While lying in his crib and watching his mobile, Ari reflected, “When I grow up, I want to be able to see the same animals and wild places that my Mommy and Daddy got to see.”

This comes on the heels of Ari's radio interview last week in which the then-17-day old spoke out against opening ANWR. In case you missed it, here’s a 1-minute excerpt or the full 2-minute interview, both mp3 files.

Well, in this case, Ari’s Mommy and Daddy agree. Despite

being an oil industry investor and standing to gain financially if the Refuge is opened, the Arctic Refuge seems to me to be one place that ought to stay off-limits to development. The benefits don't seem worth the costs.

It would be one thing if ANWR solved a long-term problem. But Congress wouldn’t even take up the issue of auto fuel efficiency standards last week. So opening ANWR accomplishes nothing--just wastes a national treasure. This isn’t about wise energy policy; it's about politics and greed. Most Americans are against it. Even the major oil companies have dropped their financial support for the group lobbying to open the Refuge!

I read Ari a lullaby at night, and it goes like this:

My baby, you'll be sleepin' soon / Kissed by the golden stars and moon / I have just one wish for you / May your every dream come true

Ari dreams of one day being able to see the same kind of big game migrations that once occurred across the entire American West. And the Arctic Refuge is the last unspoiled place in America where that happens. When Ari grows up, I don’t want him to ask me why my generation squandered our natural heritage out of short-sighted selfishness. So I’m joining him, his cousin Eli (at left), and lots of other young Alaskans in supporting www.ArcticRibbon.org. 

(See my more detailed views on the Arctic Refuge.) 

Comments

[Jacob Carpenter]

oops. i posted my coment on Ari on the "spring has sprung" article

[cara]

wow- ari's cousin is quite a stud too