Congress must act to protect national Arctic refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the northeast corner of Alaska is a breathtaking and ecologically vital landscape. Most importantly, it is ground zero for climate change. This area is facing an unprecedented threat that not only endangers its wildlife but also the cultural and spiritual survival of indigenous communities who have stewarded these lands for millennia.
As a botanist, ecologist and teacher, I have walked more than 100 miles in the Arctic teaching my students about how important it is and how fragile it is. We saw footprints and vehicle trails still present after decades of time. We saw melting permafrost areas disturbing the land. We must keep human-caused disturbances away from this area.
Seven years ago, President Trump’s 2017 Tax Act marked a historic shift for the Arctic refuge by explicitly designating oil and gas development as one of its purposes, erasing more than 50 years of hard-fought necessary protections desired by we the people. Thanks to President Biden, there are no drills in the Arctic refuge now but we need Congress to act to repeal the Tax Act drilling mandate before a president can sign protection into law.
It is time for Congress to end the threat of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic refuge permanently and secure lasting protections. It’s up to us to show up to the polls on Nov. 5 to defend this wild place. We need sustainable sources of energy like wind and solar and we should not be destroying necessary wild landscapes for unsustainable, pollution-causing oil and gas energy.
Patricia K. Armstrong, Naperville
Don’t forget about the Jan. 6 coup attempt when voting
Regardless of your position on the border, inflation, the economy, abortion or the many other important issues related to the upcoming election, there is one overriding issue that I feel must determine who will be our next president.
Donald Trump led the worst elements of our society in an insurrection and attempted coup against the United States of America, which we all witnessed with our own eyes and ears. Anyone who would do such a thing, particularly Trump, should not be allowed anywhere near the highest office in our land. He should not be going to the White House. He should be going to prison.
Donald Orchard, Naperville
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