rowing political fire.The argument still remains that the possibility of altering the life patterns of thenative caribou might just be a necessary evil, however. Many middle-of-the-roadRepublicans believe that in order to stimulate the economy and to decrease foreign energyimports, ANWR drilling must commence. But many environmentalists contend that there isa fine line to walk between slightly altering the environment and destroying a lifestyle.Simply stated by Lycos, For thousands of years, the Gwich'in relied upon the PorcupineRiver Caribou Herd to meet their subsistence needs. The idea exists where removing oraltering the behavior of the caribou herds in the region by allowing ANWR to take place,would adversely affect the Native American population. But the same could be said indefense of the drilling. The Inupiat people, who live in the same area and survive on the same herds ofcaribou as the Gwichin, are supporting the industrial development. According toANWR.org, the Inupiat people are supporting the oil drilling measure to stimulate theirlocal economy (which was originally based upon trade to begin with). They find that themoney to be derived from ANWR would be able to fund basic public services such as afire department and police station as well. But the Inupiat arent the only ones endorsingANWR.Recently, in the interest of national security, President Bush has endorsed the billthat would allow drilling in the arctic. He claims "The less dependent we are on foreignsources of crude oil, the more secure we are at home. But the deeply entrenched partisansentiment still exists in Congress over the whole subject. Democrats recently suspended discussion of the bill because they wanted to "avoid quarrelsome, divisive votes incommittee. But Alaskan Senator Frank Murkowski believes otherwise, saying Democratsdid not want to bring up the bill because they knew they would lose and were trying todeprive Mr. Bush of a victory. While the deba...
