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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 21, 2005 Case In Point: Arctic Wildlife Refuge Drilling plan not what you are being told First things first: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lies on the northern edge of our continent, stretching from the peaks of the Brooks Range across a vast expanse of tundra to the Beaufort Sea. It has been called America’s Serengeti, a stunning million-year-old ecological wonder that is home to nearly 200 wildlife species, including polar bears, musk oxen (recently reintroduced to the area), caribou, tundra swans, grizzlies, Arctic wolves, snowy owls and eider ducks. The area is traversed by a dozen rivers, and remains to this day pristine. One of America’s last untouched wilderness areas. Biologists consider the coastal plain, which ranges along 800 miles of the Arctic coast, to be the heart of the refuge. It is a place where pregnant female Beaufort Sea Polar bears make their dens and give birth to their young. During the brief summers, 135 bird species return to the refuge’s coastal plain to breed and nest, birds such as snow geese, red-throated loons and a variety of shorebirds. The Porcupine caribou herd (123,000 strong), travels hundreds of miles from Canada’s Porcupine River to the coastal plain, where females give birth in the spring. For more than 20,000 years, the herd has been central to the culture of the Gwich’in Indians of Alaska and Canada. Scientists have stated that the coastal plain is the most critical part of the fragile ecosystem of the area and one of the central reasons for establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is once again being targeted for drilling at the behest of oil companies and the Bush administration and Congress is presently considering the option. The question is why? Drilling proponents point out that there are an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil beneath the refuge’s coastal plain. The current administration is committed to the idea that America can drill its way to oil independence, and the refuge is part of that equation. However, according to the U.S. Geological Service, even at peak production, in the distant year of 2027, the refuge supply would produce only a fraction (1-2 percent) of America’s daily consumption of oil, or 0.26 billion barrels. Advocates of opening up the refuge claim that only 2,000 of the 1.5 million acres are necessary. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, that’s a myth. The U.S. Geological Survey, the Council points out, has determined that the oil reserves (if they are indeed there) are not concentrated in one single large reservoir; instead, they are spread out in some 30 deposits which would require networks of roads and pipelines requiring the fragmenting of the refuge’s habitat. For an example of what could happen to the coastal plain, you only have to look at Prudhoe Bay. One thousand square miles of tundra has been turned into a sprawling industrial zone of pipeline and roads with 1,400 producing wells. It is a bleak landscape of sewage, sludge, scrap metal, garbage and more than 60 contaminated waste sites that contain acids, lead, diesel fuel, and solvents. It has also been reported that the current Prudhoe Bay field as well as some 20 other North Slope fields will continue to produce another 7.3 billion barrels of oil. And, finally, and perhaps most importantly, as it stands now, America has, at best, only 3 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves. We consume 25 percent of the oil produced worldwide. How could any political party ever proffer, with any seriousness, that we can drill our way to oil independence? Clearly, drilling as a solution to our energy needs is a straw man. But we can invent our way to independence. We could couple modern technology with automobile engineering and begin manufacturing cars with 40mpg fuel efficiency capabilities which alone could save 60 billion barrels of oil over 50 years. We could save 7.3 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years simply by mandating that all replacement tires meet new-tire specifications (that’s more than the total amount of oil likely to be recovered from the coastal plain). The options are ubiquitous, the math straightforward. Therefore, the question again comes to mind: why? Why would government proponents, despite stiff opposition from a majority of voters, despite the high cost/low gain result, entertain the idea of opening up to drilling one of the largest and most treasured wildlife sanctuaries? Perhaps the answer lies in the words of representative Tom DeLay, who is reported to have said, in a closed-door session of House GOP leadership, “It’s about precedent.” Meaning if the Arctic Refuge can be accessed, then timber, mining and other industries can begin exploiting other protected wilderness areas. All the rhetoric about oil independence, and not relying on the Middle East for energy, is a ruse and has nothing to do with what the real agenda is: establishing precedent. It is cynical and it is outrageous. But then, as the bumper sticker says, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” Case in Point is a weekly editorial column designed to provide in-depth commentary on current events. 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