Editorial: Clinton should say no to oil companies

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Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 | 10:13 a.m.

Environmental groups, such as the Alaska Wilderness League and the Sierra Club, want President Clinton to designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain as a national monument. Why? Oil companies, backed by Republicans in Congress and George W. Bush, desperately want to open this Alaskan land to drilling.

Clinton should use his authority as president to permanently block development of this refuge, which environmentalists note is home to a 130,000-member caribou herd, polar bears, grizzly bears, 125 species of migratory birds and other wildlife. This remarkable land, which some refer to as the American Serengeti, is deserving of lasting protection.