You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

St. Olaf junior heads to Washington D.C. for Arctic Refuge Action Day

By Trent Chaffee '09
September 16, 2005

When hundreds of college students and citizens concerned about the environment gather on the west lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. this weekend to participate in the Alaska Coalition's Arctic Refuge Action Day rally on Sept. 19 and 20, St. Olaf junior Amber Collett will be with them. An environmental studies major and co-leader of the St. Olaf Environmental Coalition and Volunteer Network, Collett interned this past summer for the Alaska Coalition, a non-profit organization of more than 700 individuals, groups and clubs opposed to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and logging in the Tongass National Forest.

The only St. Olaf student making the trip, Collett's summer internship clarified her feelings about drilling along Alaska's Wildlife Refuge coastal plain. During the rally, Collett will talk with congressional representatives about the budget reconciliation bill that would open Alaska's Arctic Refuge for oil drilling. She credits St. Olaf with giving her a strong background in environmental policy and she is concerned about how drilling for oil will affect the birthing grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd. "For me," says Collett, "nothing is worth destroying the crown jewel of America's national park system for an unknown amount of oil that won't be available for 10 years."

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-786-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.