September 22, 2003
Issue: The New York Times reports today that Republicans
working on the energy conference bill want to include opening the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge for exploration. However, in order to get the necessary
votes in the U.S. Senate from Democrats and liberal Republicans, it appears
that Republicans may be considering offering deals in addition to plans to
increase the use of ethanol and clean coal. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) is quoted
as saying, "There are 30 different versions of what you might do in ANWR
from full-blown exploration to all sorts of different iterations, some involving
protecting other lands, some involving swapping lands, some involving putting
millions of acres of land into special protection."
The facts:
1. U.S. Geological Survey estimates
that there are between 5.7 and 16 billion barrels of oil under the coastal
plain an amount about equal to our oil imports from Iraq for 20 years or
what we import from the Saudis in 30 years.
2. ANWR
totals 19.6 million acres, of which eight million are already designated as
wilderness. Only 2000 acres are being considered for exploration about
the size of an average farm in South Dakota.
3. Of
the 2000 polar bears in Alaska, only about 15 dens have been identified on
the coastal plain over an eleven year period. Most of the denning occurs
on the ice pack therefore development would not negatively affect polar bears.
4. The
Clinton administrationšs Department of Energy (DOE) published a 1999 report
entitled, "Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration
and Production Technology". It points out that "ice based
fabrication . .leaves virtually no footprint; ice structures simply thaw and
melt in the spring." (For more quotes, see below.)
Comment 1: The Inupiat Eskimos who live on Alaskašs coastal plain are
overwhelmingly in favor of exploration. They understand it can be done in
an environmentally friendly way with the economic benefits of better
schools and health care, jobs, and improved streets and water systems for
their families.
Comment 2: The central arctic caribou herds near the oil fields of
the North Slope have increased from 3000 in the 1970s to over 32,000 today
so itšs been shown that exploration can be done without negatively affecting
the herds.
Comment 3: While opening the coastal plain is very important to reduce
our dependence on foreign oil, it does not justify setting aside millions
of more acres as wilderness. There are over 6 million of acres of wilderness
in the U.S. already with another 17 million acres of wilderness study areas
(WSAs) managed by BLM (Bureau of Land Management).
Links: To read the Clinton DOE report go to: http://www.house.gov/resources/press/2003/0624report.pdf
To read more about BLM wilderness & WSAs go to: http://www.blm.gov/nlcs/wilderness.htm
Gretchen Randall
Winningreen LLC
3712 N. Broadway PMB 279
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 773-857-5086
e-mail: grandall@winningreen.com