More Bush bull on ANWR

The coastal plains of ANWR's 1002 area (photo: USGS)

Here we go again. Bush aims to open up ANWR, specifically area 1002 (see January 8th post), to oil and gas leasing by 2009, according to the administration's proposed 2008 Budget released yesterday. I wonder if he's ever even bothered to read the report "Cumulative Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Activities on Alaska's North Slope", published by the National Research Council in 2003.

2007 wishes for ANWR and the bears

ANWR map from http://arctic.fws.gov/shademap.htm

Finally the political momentum may be going the other way, at least ever since 2000 when Bush called for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) during his presidential campaign and the House of Representatives repeatedly passed bills in favour.
Legislation introduced in the House last Friday by the Democratic Party, would make the oil-rich 1.2 million-acre coastal strip of the ANWR a permanently protected wilderness and end repeated efforts to open the area east of the Prudhoe oil field (1002 Area on map) to energy companies.
The efforts on ANWR are coinciding with the Department of the Interior’s decision, on December 27 2006, to propose listing polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, in response to a suit filed in 2005 by three green groups.
Retreating ice in the Arctic and how it affects polar bears has been described as the “canary in the coal mine” in terms of climate change. It has already led to starvation, cannibalism, and drowning among the world's 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears (4,700 of which live in Alaska and spend part of the year in Canada and Russia). Check out the PBI’s pages for more on the research carried out
It looks like 2007 may actually turn out to be the International Polar Year.

Powering Africa out of Poverty

( image from UNDP)

The countries involved in IE4Sahel are the 9 members of CILSS

Not much blogging for me lately. The reason is I have been working A LOT in view of the upcoming International Workshop on Energy Policies for Poverty Reduction in the Sahel (October 2-6, 2006, Niamey - Niger) as part of the IE4Sahel energy project. It's probably the most challenging stuff I have ever come across and the truth is it's really hard, since we are dealing with some of the poorest countries in the world. However, the consortium is going to do it's best to help the regional centre Aghryment in terms of capacity building and training for renewable energies, planning and policies. More news and official schedules coming up soon.