Myths About Drilling in ANWR
- From: "Lee K" <lee_keedick@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 09:42:31 -0500
Myths About Drilling in ANWR
Friday, December 16, 2005
By Ben Lieberman
Drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge makes so much
sense, it's no wonder opponents have to twist the facts to turn it into a
controversy.
We're talking about 10 billion barrels of domestic oil located in an area
with a proven track record for environmentally responsible drilling. Yet a
host of tall tales from environmental activists and like-minded journalists
has made it a tough fight in Washington.
Congress is currently deciding whether to add ANWR drilling to the defense
appropriations bill. Given the continued high oil prices and political
turmoil in many oil-producing nations, now might be the best chance to get
ANWR done. But it will happen only if the ANWR myths are exposed. Here are
several:
ANWR Drilling Would Harm Alaska's Environment.
Some perspective is helpful to understand the ecological insignificance of
ANWR drilling. ANWR comprises 19 million acres in Northeast Alaska, 17.5
million of which are totally off-limits to drilling or any other kind of
economic activity. This is why the news footage showing beautiful snowcapped
mountains is misleading, because the drilling would not be allowed anywhere
near those areas.
Only the flat and featureless coastal plain would be affected, and even
there only a small portion of its 1.5 million acres. The current version of
the bill limits the surface disturbance to 2,000 acres, a small piece of a
big coastal plain in a very big wildlife refuge in the biggest state in the
Union.
Oil Wells Would Despoil One Of The Few Remaining Pristine Places.
Again, the vast majority of ANWR will be completely unaffected by drilling.
It would occur only on a small part of the coastal plain where there already
is some human habitation. There are plenty of truly pristine places in
Alaska worth preserving, but ANWR's coastal plain isn't one of them.
As it is, Alaska has 141 million acres of protected lands, an area equal to
the size of California and New York combined.
Drilling Is Incompatible With The Purpose Of National Wildlife Refuges.
Drilling critics have tried to confuse wildlife refuges with national parks,
wilderness areas and other more highly protected categories of federal
lands. But national wildlife refuges typically allow limited mining,
logging, drilling, ranching or other activities.
Indeed, the statute creating ANWR contemplated future oil production on the
coastal plain, subject to congressional approval.
It is worth noting that another wildlife refuge in Alaska, the Kenai
National Wildlife Refuge, has had drilling onsite for decades. The oil
production there rarely makes the news because it has not caused any
problems, even though Kenai has far more wildlife than ANWR.
Oil Development Harms Local Wildlife.
An extensive track record proves otherwise. In addition to Kenai, Alaska has
oil drilling in the Prudhoe Bay field, only 55 miles west of ANWR. Prudhoe
Bay has produced more than 10 billion barrels of oil since the 1970s, which
has been transported through the Alaska pipeline to the American market.
Decades of studies show that this oil production has had a negligible impact
on the environment.
Environmental opponents of drilling cannot point to a single species that
has been driven to extinction or even a population decline attributable to
Prudhoe Bay. In addition, the drilling there was done with decades-old
technology and methods far less environmentally sensitive than what would be
required in ANWR.
The Caribou Herds Will be Devastated.
Environmentalists have been particularly excessive in predicting dire harm
to the herd of migrating caribou that passes through ANWR. But the caribou
herd that migrates through Prudhoe Bay has increased from 3,000 to 23,000
since drilling commenced there in 1977.
Alaskans Oppose ANWR Drilling.
In fact, polls regularly show 75 percent or more of Alaskans support
drilling. This includes the native Alaskans who live in the vicinity of the
area where ANWR drilling would occur, although the few who oppose drilling
get most of the media attention.
Alaskans know from first-hand experience that resource extraction can
co-exist with environmental protection. They also know how silly the
environmental gloom and doom predictions are, as they have been hearing such
nonsense for decades.
If the average American, and his or her representative in Congress, knew the
facts as well as the average Alaskan, ANWR drilling wouldn't be
controversial in the first place. Fortunately, it's not too late for
Congress to take the common sense step and boost domestic oil supplies by
passing legislation allowing ANWR drilling.
Ben Lieberman is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for
Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,179005,00.html
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