Just wonderful...

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Defund the EPA now. From FOX News:
EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans
Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA�s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.

Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He�s especially frustrated over the appeal board�s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. �We think the issues were really not major,� Slaiby said, �and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.�

The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.

The EPA�s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.

�What the modeling showed was in communities like Kaktovik, Shell�s drilling would increase air pollution levels close to air quality standards,� said Eric Grafe, Earthjustice�s lead attorney on the case. Earthjustice was joined by Center for Biological Diversity and the Alaska Wilderness League in challenging the air permits.
Good God what is up with these morons? More:
At stake is an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. That�s how much the U. S. Geological Survey believes is in the U.S. portion of the Arctic Ocean. For perspective, that represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed down the Trans Alaska pipeline throughout its 30-year history. That pipeline is getting dangerously low on oil. At 660,000 barrels a day, it�s carrying only one-third its capacity.
More:
The EPA did not return repeated calls and e-mails. The Environmental Appeals Board has four members: Edward Reich, Charles Sheehan, Kathie Stein and Anna Wolgast. All are registered Democrats and Kathie Stein was an activist attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. Members are appointed by the EPA administrator. Alaska�s Republican senator thinks it�s time to make some changes.
Over 4,300 comments and the article was posted earlier today. If they are so worried about exhaust from the icebreaker, they should lease this puppy from the Russians:
70,000 horsepower, 25,000 ton ship, 16 knots through thick pack ice.

Two reactors, each reactor large enough to power a medium size city (26 megawatts, 52MW total. Peak load in 2009 for Seattle was 1,859 MW -- page three of this report)

The fuel consumption? One pound of Uranium per day. Sure beats the 700+ barrels of oil that would be the equivalent.
You are welcome. And ignore this please.

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