Although this issue about drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) has dropped out of notice in the mainstream media lately, it is important that Americans understand just exactly what is at stake with the proposal. The oil companies and their supporters argue that opening up ANWR to drilling is essential to reducing our dependence on foreign oil and exploiting underdeveloped domestic resources. The environmentalists, along with native Alaskans and others, argue that the proposed ANWR site doesn’t contain enough oil to justify the incursion of heavy machinery and permanent human presence on pristine wilderness. Neither Presidential candidate has endorsed the idea of drilling in ANWR.
ANWR is surrounded by drilling operations, most of them centered around Prudhoe Bay and extending into the Arctic waters, including offshore rigs. Most of what oil exists there is located along the coastline well East of Prudhoe Bay. The proposed site is nowhere near the known reserves along the coast and is far inland from the coastal deposits.
The proposed site is in the middle of nowhere in terms of proximity to modern human developments. The proposed site is located in pristine wilderness inhabited only sparsely by native Alaskans who live in a manner which creates little disturbance upon the otherwise natural ecosystem. The primary residents of the proposed development site are caribou.
I have heard it said that there is nothing in the ecosystem of the proposed ANWR drilling site that would be disturbed by the oilfield operations. Tundra, as understood by many people, looks like “wasteland” or arctic desert, and has no apparent redeeming value in terms of human surface exploitation; this has been noted as reason enough to justify below ground exploitation. However, the proposed ANWR drilling site, while appearing uninhabited by significant human or animal populations, is, once a year, very much utilized by a significant population. The proposed ANWR drilling site is right in the middle of the seasonal breeding grounds for one of the largest caribou herds in Alaska. Caribou tend to be adversely impacted by human development, preferring avoidance of human contact. Human development causes significant changes in caribou behavior. The construction and operation of drilling platforms would have significant impact upon the migration and breeding of this herd, possibly to the detriment of caribou populations not only in Alaska, but in Canada as well.
Finally, according to U.S. Geological Survey data, there is no oil within five miles of the proposed drilling site. There is no oil there! Most of the known reserves are being tapped, why would the oil companies want to erect structures and engage in drilling operations where there is no oil? It seems they want to drill in ANWR because the operations would be taxpayer funded at no cost to them and would give them, by overcoming these concerns, the precedent, and, by failing to produce, the excuse, to expand operations into other sensitive and protected areas where oil might be found.
The oil reserves of northern Alaska in the area around the Alaska National Wildlife refuge are being exploited and probably to the full extent desired by the oil companies. The proposed drilling site, despite the oil companies’ assertions, is important to at least one species of native fauna, the caribou. These caribou would be adversely affected by oil-field operations in their breeding grounds. There is no oil worth mentioning in the proposed drilling area. The oil companies are engaged in a power play, seeking to push an illogical, irrational, irresponsible, and harmful measure in order to advance a taxpayer funded agenda for expansion of drilling in protected areas, while thousands of tapped, usable wells across the U.S. remain silent and motionless. The proposed ANWR drilling is nothing but an attempt by wealth to flaunt its power and influence.
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