The National Post in Canada recently reported that Canada’s conservative government — led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper — has been lobbying against America drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

Harper himself was not asked about ANWR and did not state a position on the drilling issue during his most recent pre-election tour of the Arctic this past summer.

But documents obtained by the Canwest News Service show that the Conservative government continued to oppose drilling in ANWR as recently as this past winter as it was monitoring the U.S. presidential primaries.

The Foreign Affairs Department’s most recent “Advocacy Plan” for the Canadian Embassy in Washington lists “opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” as one of Canada’s top environmental objectives with the United States.

In the past, Canada has been against drilling in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge because of the acknowledged impact it would have on the habitat of the porcupine caribou herd in the Yukon, which borders the Arctic Refuge.

While Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain, and Senator Joe Biden are all against opening the Coastal Plain to drilling, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is — not surprisingly — a supporter of drilling in the refuge, and McCain has gone so far as to label her an “energy expert.”

But Peter Harder, who is Canada’s recently retired deputy minister of Foreign Affairs (serving under both Harper and the previous Liberal governments), disagreed with that assessment:

“I understand that energy is important,” he added, “But simply being a governor from a state that has reserves doesn’t make you the expert necessarily.”

To catch a glimpse of the amazing wildlife on the Coastal Plain and in the Arctic Refuge, be sure to visit the online Arctic Refuge galleries of photographer Jim M. Goldstein, who visited the refuge with well-known wildlife photographer Art Wolfe.

Tags:
wildlife, wildlife refuge, National Wildlife Refuge System, Arctic NWR, Alaska, Canada