Murkowski's broken promises grow as Arctic Refuge oil development barrels forward
So many horrible things are going on in the Trump Administration. 
Murkowski’s broken promises grow as Arctic Refuge oil development barrels forward
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By Adam Kolton, opinion contributor — 12/31/18 05:00 PM EST
When drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was slipped into last year’s Republican tax bill, Alaska’s senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) promised to: “Do it right. We will take care of our lands. We will take care of our wildlife. We will take care of our people.”
Those words ring hollow this week as the Trump administration has released its draft environmental impact statement in preparation for holding its first lease sale in 2019, even as it continues to push to allow seismic exploration across the entirety of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain. And the reason for the rush isn’t hard to piece together.
In her own words, Murkowski told an Anchorage business meeting earlier this year: “There is a strong commitment [from the Trump administration] to work with us to get these leases out before the end of this term ... because once you get those leases out into the hands of those who can then move forward, it's tougher to throw the roadblocks in place.”
Her implication is that it would be tougher to challenge Arctic Refuge development if leases are already in the hands of Big Oil. This is a land grab, pure and simple, and the individuals responsible care little about impacts to wildlife or the damage they would be inflicting on Alaska Native people whose subsistence depends on the Arctic Refuge.
As for Murkowski’s promises to do it right — those promises were broken from the beginning.
Broken Promise No. 1: We will take care of our wildlife.
The Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain is the biological heart of America’s most iconic wildlife refuge. Birds from all 50 U.S. states raise their young there, alongside other species including caribou, muskoxen, polar bears and so much more.
More than three-quarters of the coastal plain has been designated as critical habitat for polar bears, who are increasingly using the area to build their dens as sea ice disappears due to climate change. And yet, BLM continues to push forward with a plan for seismic exploration that would likely frighten mother bears into fleeing from their dens, leaving cubs behind to perish.
The proposed seismic plan includes a small army of industrial vehicles and equipment with a mandate to crisscross every square inch of the coastal plain. Two 160-person worker “camps” with convoys of 90,000 lb. thumper trucks, tractors and bulldozers would roll over extensive areas of fragile tundra 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months.....................
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