(derekbaker)

A story on NPR's Marketplace yesterday evening, they ran a story about oil leases north of the Arctic Circle. Most of the story was about the conflict at the heart of these leases, which are paid to Eskimo tribes who hold the land as their traditional fishing and whaling grounds, and there's some debate apparently within the Inupiat community about whether they should be leasing that area or not. But the part that hit me as among the most damning (and most ironic) pieces of evidence for human destructiveness was what makes these leases more popular now that the oil's easier to get to:

Oil companies have always drilled on land where spills can mostly be contained. But a fast-retreating ice cap allows oil giants like Shell and Conoco-Phillips to tap enormous underwater reserves for the first time. Right in the middle of the Inupiat Eskimo's fishing and whaling grounds.

That's right: fossil fuels are causing global warming, which is shrinking the ice cap, which makes it easier to drill for...more fossil fuels!

This is a business plan built by the Devil, no doubt about it.

Labels: issues

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