ANWR Safe, Sound Screwed
The monorail is eviscerated in the local election. Boo! But then the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge appears to be granted another reprieve. Yeah! And then a senator starts making noise about more tankers in the Sound again. Boo!
What the hell. How about a streak one way or the other to give us a little continuity? Actually, the increased tanker traffic was brought up recently in response to the possiblity that ANWR oil would become available. Wouldn't that have been a good one? Hey, not only have you failed to protect a wildlife reserve in pristine northern Alaska, but here's the oil right on your doorstep! Wave and maybe cap'n will yank on the fog horn and tip his highball to you as he charges through Elliot Bay!
With the Alaskan reserve once again being labled "safe...for now" it seems unlikely that restrictions on tankers in the Sound will be lifted as per Republican Sen. Ted Stevens' suggestion. From the P-I:
at a joint committee hearing Wednesday in which executives from five major oil companies were grilled about prices and profits, Stevens said the restrictions handcuff the nation's ability to squeeze every drop of capacity out of existing refineries.
The refinery in question is Whatcom County's Cherry Point refinery. Maria Cantwell opposed:
"I will do everything in my power to prevent giveaways to big oil companies that will increase the risk of a major oil spill in our precious Puget Sound," Cantwell said."Profits are at an all-time high for oil companies but now they want to jeopardize the Puget Sound so they can ship more gasoline to foreign markets."
