Whoohoo! Earthjustice. I just hope that you all are not really in the pay of some moneyed muckety muck that wants to keep us ( the computer using American public) from rising up and having a revolution.
Can you beleive that right wing talk shows are really discussing closing down NPR? Because they're too political? Jeesh. Some people really want to have a "Handmaiden's Tale" kind of future. Grrr.

James Hurst, Gayle Janzen, and Anonymous -- If you read this post more closely and carefully you will see that Buck Parker and Earthjustice are completely on your side -- Earthjustice is suing Obama's Department of the Interior for continuing to neglect science. Mr. Parker is not advocating that the drilling continue -- in fact, quite the opposite! He and Earthjustice are fighting for the drilling in the Arctic to stop because of the total lack of science there to support drilling and a response system for a potential spill there!

I am sorry that you misread this post, and moreover, I am sorry that you called names! You should know that the position expressed in this blog post is on the side of sound science and utmost precautions and against drilling in the Arctic now, when the science says it's a bad idea. So it seems like all the commentors here are in agreement. However, with that said, I think it also a very bad idea to call people you disagree with (though you may be confused about who those are) clowns. We need to be civil and we need to promote civil discourse. We can disagree with Big Oil and its big-money special interest lobbyists, but we can't win this issue by name calling.

"Interior now takes the position that oil drilling should go forward anyway because they would have approved it regardless of the scientific data." Who in the hell do you think you are? How arrogant and stupid can you get? Aren't you part of the Obama Administration? If so, perhaps it is time to start thinking of this supposedly "democratic" administration as a fox in sheeps clothing. The last administration routinely ignored scientific data and we threw the bums out. Perhaps you clowns are leftover from then - there is too much of that in this administration for me and for the good of the country. Get real of get out.

We don't need oil that badly to risk ruining the pristine Arctic environment by allowing offshore drilling Interior and its Minerals Management Service (renamed to escape the stigma of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and now called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement) readily admit that they don't know much about almost every species of sea bird, migratory water fowl, seals and whales, not to mention polar bears, that would be affected by oil and gas development in the Chukchi.

We are destroying the planet in our greed for oil. When will you guys stop the destruction??

I am extremely concerned that you are in favor of permitting oil drilling in Arctic waters. As the mess in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrated, that is a very bad mistake. In addition, we do not need more oil badly enough to take any of the risks inherent in drilling and extracting from underwater wells at this point. Rather, we need to proceed full speed with alternative sources of energy and conservation of our current resources.

Your attempt to proceed on this matter despite the President's public ban on drilling makes him look very bad - as if he is not in control of his own government agencies. I strongly urge you to stop.