WASHINGTON -- Bus loads of college students, dozens of Alaska Natives and one slender man swaddled in plastic bags were among hundreds of people who united on the U.S. Capitol grounds Tuesday to protest a Republican plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
The issue drew some high-profile Democrats to the podium -- Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The biggest star, based on crowd reaction, was Sen. Hillary Clinton, whom the throng greeted with digital cameras and cell phones held aloft.
She attacked the argument that drilling in ANWR has become more urgent in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the gas price hike that followed.
"It makes no sense to respond to a disaster in the Gulf by making a disaster in Alaska," she said, to much applause.
A coalition of environmental groups staged the protest after a summer of rallying at college campuses and state fairs. Some organizers said they expected it to be the largest protest ever against drilling in the refuge, which conservationists have battled for more than 25 years.
Drilling supporters, who say tapping ANWR will create jobs and boost domestic oil production, are pinning their hopes on a budget package Congress is supposed to consider next month. The budget reconciliation bill is likely to have an ANWR development measure in it and would be immune from Senate filibuster.
"Everything is on the line in these final weeks of this Congress," said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., perhaps the most vocal drilling opponent in the House.
Gwich'in elder Sarah James, from Arctic Village, has been holding a vigil for weeks near the National Museum of the American Indian.
"We've got to get back with the Earth, and we've got to get back to nature," she said.
Sitting on the grass nearby, a middle-aged woman nodded solemnly, her fuzzy fake antlers bobbing in agreement.
Predictions of 5,000 protesters seemed unrealized, although the crowd size Tuesday was hard to estimate, especially since hundreds clung to the tree shade on the edges of the Capitol's west lawn.
Others milled around with homemade signs:
"Bush has plundered the Earth for his corporate agenda"
"Quinhagak say heck no to drilling"
"Stop dumping plastic in landfills"
"Floridians for the Arctic Refuge"
"Antlers -- $2 donation"
At times the event took on a festival atmosphere. Three shirtless guys put down their signs to play hackysack.
In the ANWR debate, each side claims Alaska Native support. The 65 Alaska Native protesters Tuesday were featured prominently. Some wore name tags that also identified their hometowns: Akiak, Chevak, Kaktovik, Point Hope, Togiak.
Organizer Betsy Goll, of the Sierra Club's Anchorage office, helped coordinate the group, but she said they were invited by the Gwich'in Athabascans of the Alaska Interior. Some of the Native participants said the environmental groups helped pay their travel expenses.
The Gwich'in say they depend on the caribou that depend on the refuge, and have been the most visible Natives against ANWR development. Drilling supporters have complained for years that the environmentalists have put the national spotlight on a tiny subset of Alaska Natives, ignoring larger groups.
For instance, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. -- a congressionally chartered company owned by Inupiat Eskimos -- and the Alaska Federation of Natives have endorsed development.
The Gwich'in say they have the support of many tribal groups, including the Tanana Chiefs Conference and the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council.
The battle for the hearts and minds of Kaktovik -- the coastal whaling village closest to where the drilling would take place -- has taken on extra significance. Traditionally, the community has supported drilling, but Robert Thompson, a protester from Kaktovik, said the tide seemed to turn when Gov. Frank Murkowski pushed for off-shore drilling last year.
Thompson said he has 63 residents committed to his anti-drilling petition. He thinks that's about half of Kaktovik's adults, but the population statistic itself is in dispute.
A couple of counter-protesters came to the gathering, wearing signs that said "Say no to ANWR -- Say yes to Saudi Oil" and "opposed to ANWR? Ride a bike home."
Tara Sweeney, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. lobbyist in Washington, stood near them, looking pained.
"What's being lost in all of this is the voice of the majority of the Inupiaqs who do support (drilling), who have over the past 30 years developed a way to work with industry to make sure that our traditional way of life is preserved," she said.
Protester Elise Wolf, of Homer, declared Sweeney "completely bought off ... because she's benefiting economically."
Daily News reporter Liz Ruskin can be reached at lruskin@adn.com.
