ANWR

The issue of drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve is coming up again. The opposition for it is based on the idea that it will hurt the Alaskan ecosystem and harm wildlife. If I recall correctly, these were exactly the same arguements that were made to oppose drilling for oil in other parts of Alaska and against building the Alaskan oil pipeline. So why don't we simply take an unbiased look at how the ecosystems and wildlife of those areas has been effected. I really don't know for sure, but I have the sense that the pipeline has actually helped increase the number of caribou. One thing that leads me to believe that the ecosystems have not been hurt, and if anything helped, is that the opponents of ANWR aren't bringing up any horror stories of the Alaskan wilderness being destroyed by these earlier efforts.