LETTER: Web site misrepresented

Dear Editor,

I must correct the misrepresentations made by the Statesman concerning the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (“ECOS champions environmental issues” 3/2). While it is necessary and appropriate to give both sides of an issue, the Statesman failed to attribute critical information to drilling advocates, and misled readers into accepting it as generally accepted fact, also known as “public knowledge.”

The statement concerning “17 billion barrels of oil” is hotly contested, and doubted by the U.S. Geological Survey. The survey that purported to show that Americans are in favor of drilling has been discredited many times and eclipsed by more objective polls showing the public overwhelmingly opposing drilling. And in fact, concerns about caribou have not been “put to rest.” Rather, biologists remain concerned as ever, and on record, about the impact of drilling on the Porcupine Caribou Herd. Tragically, the only citation for this information was a single reference to “www.anwr.com.”

The Statesman then compounded the error in the next issue by misidentifying the Web site as that of the “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” In fact, it is maintained by Arctic Power, an industry front group, and readers should know this when evaluating that information. The actual official Web site is arctic.fws.gov.

Full disclosure of one’s sources, and separation of background vs. attributed information is critical to responsible reporting and the Statesman dropped the ball. I encourage readers to reconsider the information in this article in light of the fact that Arctic Power’s controversial assertions, not accepted public knowledge, was the source for the latter third of the article.

Jim Steitz

Public Lands Coordinator, ECOS