Senate Votes to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Senate Votes to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On Wednesday, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to allow oil and gas drilling in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the 19 million acre preserve created in 1960. This seems like a good idea to proponents of drilling, given that a barrel of oil has now risen to $56.46. Environmentalists balk at the idea of disturbing ANWR. Is drilling in ANWR worth the investment and possible environmental degradation? How much oil will drilling there provide? Frank Murkowski, Republican Governor of Alaska, and Karen Wayland, legislative Director for the NRDC, join Larry to discuss drilling in ANWR. Then, Larry discusses the high price of oil with Philip Verleger, independent energy economist, and asks how it will affect our economy.
How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond joins Larry Mantle to talk about his new book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking), in which he shows how societies historically have squandered or savored their natural and human resources and how these choices regarding resources have led some societies to collapse or success.