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On December 10, 2004, President Bush nominated Sam Bodman as the new energy secretary. Upon accepting the nomination, Mr. Bodman stated his commitment to the president's energy plan and pledged to develop domestic energy sources. Without a doubt, one of his targets will be the expansion of oil exploration in Alaska -- a longtime goal of the president.

One of the many ways expanding oil development on Alaska's public lands threatens the environment is the risk of oil spills. All oil leaving Alaska is carried on tankers traversing the sensitive and sometimes dangerous waters of Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska, posing a risk of a repeat of the terrible 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

For the endangered sea lions, threatened sea otters, harbor seals, and the large variety of sea birds and waterfowl that share a delicate ecosystem along the southern coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, such a spill would indeed be devastating.