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 n February 2000 filmmaker Jeff Barrie will embark
on a 4,500 mile bicycle journey across America in a grass-roots
effort to protect Alaska's spectacular wilderness from unnecessary
oil development. Barrie will pedal his bicycle from Los Angeles
to Washington, DC, where the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge is being decided. Along the way, Barrie will be showing
his award-winning documentary film, Arctic Quest: Our Search
for Truth.
 Attend
a screening in San Diego:
Tuesday, February
15th
6pm reception / 6:45pm presentation
Film begins at 7pm / Q&A at 8pm
Environmental Services "Green" Building
9601 Ridgehaven Ct.
(In Kearny Mesa - just west of I-15 and Balboa.
From I-15 take Balboa west to the first signal at Viewridge.
Go south to T-intersection at Ridgehaven. Go east to the end
of the cul-du-sac)
Light refreshments
will be provided and a $5 donation is requested.
Barrie
wants to attract America's attention to the threat of oil development
facing the Refuge, enlist the support of the public in helping
protect this wilderness area, while promoting cleaner, more efficient
forms of energy and transportation. Barrie plans to collect thousands
of letters from concerned viewers and deliver them to Congress
when he arrives in DC.
Protecting
the Refuge through Federal legislation is only part of Barrie's
mission. He also advocates embracing more efficient cars and
renewable forms of energy. Barrie's trek is being accompanied
by a superefficient Toyota Prius, driven by Alex Tapia, one of
the stars in the film. The new "hybrid" Prius uses
a combination of gasoline and electric motors to achieve nearly
70 miles per gallon. "We'll cross America on less than 7
tanks of gas, more than 800 miles per fill-up," boasts Tapia.
Barrie adds that "by driving cars like this and riding bicycles
on those short trips to the grocery store, we could simultaneously
protect Alaska's wilderness and clean our nation's air."
The fate
of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been fiercely debated
between oil interests and wilderness preservationists for nearly
20 years. The oil industry claims that development will have
minimal impact on wildlife, but critics contend that oil drilling
would destroy the wilderness area and its 150,000 member Porcupine
Caribou Herd, which provides subsistence for the Gwichíin
people, indigenous to the Arctic. This debate is portrayed in
Barrie's film Arctic Quest, the true story of five teenagers
who travel to Alaska in search of the truth behind the debate
rhetoric. Their discoveries shed light on the complexities of
this debate and the film presents a solution through energy efficiency.
The resolution
to this hard-fought environmental battle lies in Congress. Barrie
hopes letters from the public will convince Congress to permanently
protect the Refuge. Such protection has been proposed in the
Morris K. Udall Wilderness Bill (HR 1239) This bill needs more
support before it can be passed, which is the motivation for
his grass-roots effort.
The Arctic
Quest Clean Energy tour is crossing the United States, passing
through Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and DC. Call Jeff
Barrie at (310) 327-1187 for other screening times and locations,
or for more information about the tour, or visit www.arcticquest.org.
For local questions, contact the local hosts, San Diego EarthWorks,
(858) 272-7370. 
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