Norton says ANWR mistake corrected

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Facebook Twitter Email
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2001

Secretary of Gale Norton tussled with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, insisting the only mistake she made on testimony regarding drilling in the Arctic has already been corrected.

In answers submitted to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Commitee, Norton erroneously said that caribou in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge spent 11 out of the past 18 years calving their young outside the refuge.

The opposite was true.

So Norton said all she needed to do to correct this "mistake" was replace "outside" with "inside."

Environmental groups, however, noted that Norton ignored other scientific data, relied on a report paid for by an oil company and offered her own conclusions about the Porcupine caribou herd in order to give her answers a pro-drilling slant. But Norton yesterday said she was justified in consulting other points of view before she provided her formal response to the committee.

The caribou herd is a central part of the Arctic debate. The Gwich'in Nation, who depend on the caribou for subsistence, say drilling will destroy their way of life.

Today on Indianz.Com:
Inupiats: ANWR oil needed to survive (10/26)

Relevant Links:
Arctic Slope Regional Corp - http://www.asrc.com
Alaska Wilderness League - http://www.alaskawild.org
Gwich'in Steering Committee - http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin
Oil Issues in ANWR, US Fish and Wildlife - http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.html
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pro-Development site - http://www.anwr.org