We can develop ANWR oil without harm to the environment and to the wildlife that live there,

Alaska's contribution to America's freedom isn't just the oil we provide or the food we harvest from the seas or our location which is the best in the world for our military. It is more than that. It begins with the fact that Alaskans are free-thinkers.

The more traditional fuel sources we have relied on as a nation - coal, oil, and natural gas - I'm hoping they can allow us the financial springboard to move to the next generation of energy sources: renewables and alternatives.

What people unfortunately relate to when they think of Alaska oil was when the Exxon Valdez went aground because of a captain that was drunk. But when you look to how we have been safely producing and moving Alaska's oil for decades, it is a track record that is enviable.

Wildlife in this state are already being squeezed by a variety of new oil and gas projects, and new habitats simply aren't appearing out of thin air to make up for the accelerating rate of habitat loss.

The big oil corporations say they can drill there without harming the land or the wildlife. Well, that's like our tribe telling Americans to trust us with an experiment that may end up taking away all their cars. We didn't ask for this fight. This is about our survival as a people.