Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Rhetorical Analysis

In a foreword to Subhankar Banerjee's book, former President Jimmy Carter makes an argument against allowing drilling and industrial activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In his defence of his position, Carter effectively uses a combination of factual evidence, style, and appeals to emotion to persuade the reader of his ideas.

Carter starts the foreword off by describing a time when he went to the Arctic Refuge with his wife, and recounting all of the Refuge's natural beauty, from the "brilliant mosaic" of plant life to the "spectacle" of caribou migration. This use of imagery helps create the feeling that the Arctic Refuge is sacred and beautiful, and therefore deserving of protection; this is a form of emotional appeal; his description of this in the form of a narrative also makes him feel more genuine and relatable. Carter also cites the decisions of previous presidents and states that the Arctic Refuge is a symbol of "national heritage", which creates the feeling that it is patriotic to defend the Arctic Refuge. Finally, he describes his empathy towards local First Nation's peoples' ways of life, and how they would be affected by drilling; this is an appeal to emotion that suggests that …show more content…
For example, Carter highlights the statistic that the Arctic Refuge could only provide "1 to 2" percent of the country's oil, and juxtaposes said statistic with the harms of Arctic drilling, including the disruption of animal habitats and how it could affect the way of life of the Gwich'in people, explaining that the Gwich'ins' human right to practice their culture without disruption is at