Starting today, the Seattle Times has a series of informative articles about the impact of climate change on the Arctic called "Sweeping change reshapes Arctic".
In 2005, the Bush Administration and Senate Republicans came close to opening up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to the oil companies.
Cantwell v. Stevens - Smackdown Over Big Oil and ANWR
Last spring, after failing to approve drilling as part of an energy package, the Senate Republicans included the measure into a spending package but it was still defeated in the house.
After the House finally approved the measure, Senator Maria Cantwell (D- Washington) successfully led a filibuster to defeat Senator Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) backdoor attempt to get ANWR drilling approved by slipping it in the defense appropriations bill.
Kudos to Cantwell for mixing it up AGAIN with Senator "Bridge To Nowhere" Stevens. During the Senate's Oil industry hearings, Stevens tried to stop Cantwell from even trying to ask oil company executives to testify under oath.
After discrepancies about the oil CEO's testimony surfaced, Cantwell demanded the hearings reconvene to take SWORN testimony from the oil execs about their roles in the Cheney energy task force and the run-up in American gas prices. Cantwell also asked the Justice Department to investigate the alleged false statements.
As we move into the new year, we need to keep the pressure on Senator Stevens to stop him from opening the preserve to drilling.
The Times article outlines a number of disturbing changes in our climate that remind us just how precious a natural resource the Arctic is and why we need to fight to save it:
"Birds are disappearing. Pollution is arriving.
And nothing is having as much impact as climate change.
Migrating whales, the backbone of Alaska's Inupiat culture, now arrive up to 45 days early, completely altering seasonal rhythms for Inupiat who harpoon them. Winter ice roads are collapsing months sooner than they did 35 years ago, prompting oil companies to ask the government to build highways across easily scarred tundra.
Minute changes to plants and animals are unraveling intricate biological webs.
And no one really knows how much stranger it's going to get.
"It's hard, at times, trying to comprehend what's going on out there," said Eugene Brower, an Inupiat whaler and fire chief for the North Slope Borough, the municipal government for Arctic Alaska. "It's like we have no control over what's happening to us.""