Posted on: Sunday, April 21, 2002

EDITORIAL
Arctic drilling defeated despite Inouye, Akaka

We're pleased that the U.S. Senate has defeated — albeit narrowly — President Bush's proposal to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

And we're disappointed that Hawai'i's senators, Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka, were among the five Democratic senators to support this needless exploitation.

We've argued numerous times against irreversibly damaging this pristine wilderness simply because we're unwilling to wean ourselves from overdependence on oil.

The arguments in favor of drilling in the ANWR are weak indeed. The latest, that it will increase our national security, flounders in the face of facts: It will take a decade to bring ANWR oil on line, and oil companies are not eager to drill there because reserves aren't well-defined and costs will be very high.

Hawai'i's senators often vote in tandem with Alaska's senators, with laudable results. But in this case, the interest of Alaska residents — they will have to begin paying taxes in that state if North Slope oil royalties peter out — has no relation to the interests of the rest of the country.

Indeed, senators representing Hawai'i, which is extremely dependent on its reputation for a pristine environment, should be among the first to vote against the degradation of any wilderness, anywhere.