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WASHINGTON - The winds of Katrina and Rita that savaged the U.S. Gulf Coast now
threaten to blow away Canadian efforts to prevent the Bush administration from
drilling for oil in a pristine Arctic refuge. Proponents
of the drilling initiative, which has been formally opposed by the Martin government,
have ratcheted up efforts to finally win a battle that has raged for a generation,
using post-hurricane gas pump price fears in this country to their advantage.
A vote to allow
drilling would be a highly symbolic victory for U.S. President George W. Bush,
a man who needs a victory now. A
House of Representatives committee voted to open drilling this week and a vote
set for both chambers in coming weeks as part of a budget measure will decide
the issue. "This
has always been a very tough sell for us,'' said Joe Linklater, chief of the Vuntut
Gwich'in First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon, who is working with Ottawa to defeat
the measure. "The
pro-development forces have always been very good at getting their spin out on
this and now they are using the hurricanes as part of that spin. But this is an
international issue as well as an environmental and cultural issue.''
The energy and commerce
committee voted Wednesday to lift a federal ban on offshore drilling, as part
of a "mini energy bill'' meant to address perceived oil shortages in the wake
of the hurricanes. A
move by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey to strip language allowing Arctic drilling
from that bill was defeated easily 28-14. Although that vote is not binding, it
was symbolic and a sign of pro-drilling momentum. The
question of Arctic drilling itself is tucked into a budget bill which needs only
a simple majority to pass. In
the past, when the drilling question was put before the Senate, filibuster threats
by Democrats prevented its passage because it takes 60 votes, not 51, to override
a filibuster. Ottawa
has raised concerns with Washington over the effect of drilling on the Porcupine
Caribou herd, which migrates annually across the Canada-U.S. border, and threats
to the way of life of the Gwich'in First Nations of northern Yukon. Ottawa cites
a 1987 bilateral agreement which compels both countries to protect the caribou
herd. Drilling
proponents say there will be no disruption because drilling would take place in
a tiny 810-hectare portion of the 17.7-million hectare Arctic Wildlife Refuge.
Opponents say
the amount of oil available is so miniscule that it will make no difference to
consumers but has the potential to wreak havoc in a pristine part of the continent.
Environment
Minister Stéphane Dion has been to Washington twice to make the Canadian
case and Yukon MP Larry Bagnell attended an anti-drilling rally here last week.
He was joined
by the likes of Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry and New York Democrat Hillary
Clinton. Prime
Minister Paul Martin is expected to make another 11th-hour plea to U.S. President
George W. Bush. Foreign
Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew wrote to the chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, Richard Lugar of Indiana, and his House of Representatives
counterpart Henry Hyde of Illinois, both Republicans, even before Rita took aim
at the massive Texas refineries last week. "It
has come to our attention,'' Pettigrew wrote, "that this (Katrina) disaster is
being used by some to promote the development of petroleum resources in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, using energy security as their rationale.
"The minimal
oil resources in the Arctic Refuge will not make a timely or significant contribution
to U.S. energy supplies.'' With
gas averaging $2.81 (U.S.) per gallon in this country, 61 per cent of Americans
told the CNN-USA Today Gallup poll that higher gas prices are causing them moderate
or severe hardship. Markey
said the Bush administration's figures show that drilling would not produce a
drop of oil for 10 years. |
