BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 23, 2021
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a pristine area in Alaska that is home to the Gwich’in people and the Porcupine caribou, which provide much of the food and other items for this ancient people who have lived on that land for 30,000 years. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) bill would protect the Arctic Refuge from the ravages of oil and gas drilling. It has passed the House of Representatives and is now before the U.S. Senate. Republicans have tried over the years to use the budget reconciliation process five times to open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas exploration. On Jan. 6, 2021, the Trump administration held the first lease sale for tracts on the 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. No major oil companies showed up to bid and the sale generated only 1 percent of projected revenue. The BBB would rescind those lease sales and would protect the uniqueness and beauty of the Arctic Refuge. ~ Rev. Richard Killmer, Yarmouth