Cranberry Saw Us
Seattlest Pix 09Nov07
Around the Sound: The Week in News
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Seattlest Pix 09Nov08
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."
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Some Democrats caution against assuming this issue is done, and think the Republicans will put AWNR drilling back in the budget bill soon.
From the NYT:
"The only wildlife that Republicans protected today is the red herring," said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts.
This has not passed and every Washingtonian in Congress from this side of the state is going to fight this.
Senator Magnuson's legacy should not be screwed with. If this does pass we are going to nail it to every single Republican trying to run for office in 2006 in this state.
I agree that neither of these are settled issues. I doubt we'll ever live to see a day when ANWR isn't in jeopardy, and if it goes down the chances are that its oil will be shipped into the Sound.
On the very day that the Democrats take back the house in 2006 Norm Dicks, Jay Inslee and Jim McDurmott will restore the Magnuson Puget SoundOil Tanker Ban.
Jesus could you imagine what a major spill in the sound would be like?