Pristine Beauty

I'm back from my cruise to Alaska. I had an amazing time, I'm having trouble getting pictures off of my camera so I haven't finished my cruise blog but I plan to do so soon.

Today I found this article about Alaskan drilling CNN.com and I'm a little upset. I've been trying to take a little break from politics because I still haven't figured out how to keep my youthful idealistic outrage from affecting my mental health. But after my amazing trip to Alaska I just can't leave this alone.

Proponents of drilling in the Alaskan Oil Reserves are going to make an end run around environmentalists by including the measure to open up these reserves in a budget bill that cannot be filibustered. Though I understand that some people think the filibuster is an unfair exploitation of procedure, I disagree. Just because the majority of people think something is a good idea does not make them right. (SHOCKING!) And in this instance I think that no measures are too extreme to protect the untouched beauty of Alaska.

There is no way for me to explain in words or in pictures how awe inspiring the wilds of Alaska are. (And I really only got to see the touristy bits) There were gigantic mountains covered in forests completely untouched by man, and the peace as our ship floated through straigts past seemingly endless beauty was almost spiritual. Watching parts of a gigantic glacier crumble into the ocean with sounds like a thunderclap increased my respect for this amazing planet we are lucky enough to live on. I got to see otters, whales, killer whales, bald eagles and sea lions all in one place. And on our way out of Alaska there were dolphins following the ship into the sunset.

It was an amazing trip to say the least. Before the trip I would have said that drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge was obviously a bad idea. Now I think anyone who thinks that drilling in Alaska is a good idea should go there, see the animals, the glaciers, the mountains, and then if they still think it is a good idea they should be "humanely euthanized" because they are clearly idiots.

No amount of money can replace these animals or that amazing untouched wilderness. Once we start drilling there we can't ever take it back. The consequences of our actions will be felt not by humans but by the animals and by the earth. No amout of fuel will ever be able to fix the damage we have already done to this planet, can't we just leave a little bit of it alone?

I am once again disgusted by the selfishness of the human race.