The following passages, one from pro-exploration advocacy group called Arctic power and one from the former president Jimmy Carter- show two different ways that the ANWR can be described. Read the two descriptions then proceed to the questions that follow.
Arctic Power's Description of the ANWR.
These facts [about ANWR] are not as pretty or as emotionally appealing [as the descriptions of the ANWR by anti-exploration writers] But they are important for any one involved in the ANWR debate. On the coastal plain, the arctic winter lasts for 9 months. It is dark continuously for 56 days in midwinter. Temperatures with the wind chill can reach -110 degrees F. It is not pristine. They are villages, roads, housing, schools and military installations. It's not a unique Arctic ecosystem. The coastal plain is only a small fraction of the 88,000 square miles that make up the North Slope. The same tundra environment and wildlife can be found throughout the circumpolar Arctic regions. The 1002 area [the legal term for the plot of coastal plain being contested] is flat. That is why the call it a plain. Some groups want to make the 1002 area a wilderness. But a vote for wilderness is a bote against American jobs.
Jimmy Carter's Description of the ANWR
Jimmy Carter's Description of the ANWR Rosalynn [carter's wife] and I always look for opportunities to visit parks and wildlife areas in out travels. But nothing matches the spectacle of wildlife we found on the coastal plain of America's Arctics National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. To the north lay the Arctic Ocean; to the south rolling foothills rose toward the glaciated peaks of the Brooks Range. At our feet was a mat of low tundra plant life, bursting with new growth, perched atop of permafrost.
As we watched, 80,000 caribou surged across the vast expanse around us. Called by instinct older than history, this Porcupine (river) caribou her was in the midst of its annual migration. To witness this vast sea of caribou in an uncorrupted wilderness home, and the wolves, ptarmigan, grizzlies, polar bears, musk oxen and million of migratory birds, was a profound humbling experience. We were reminded of our human dependence on the natural world.
Sadly, we were also forced to imagine what we might see if the caribou were replaced by smoke-belching oil rigs, highways and a pipeline that would destroy forever the plain's delicate and precious ecosystem.
Questions
How do different descriptions create an angle of vision that serves the political interests of each party?(Hint: How does the Arctic Power Description make the ANWR seem like a favorable place to drill for oil?) How does Carter's description make it seem like an unfavorable place to drill for oil? What does each writer see and not see?