The Little Things Count

Beneath a 1.5 million acre tract on the North Slope of Alaska is estimated to be between 3 and 9 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This area is a specially designated area within the 19.8 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The U.S. imports over 65% of the nation's needed petroleum. These oil imports cost more than $55.1 billion a year. This figure does not include the military costs of imported oil. These figures are rising and could exceed 80% imports by the year 2010.
If the U.S. went ahead with their Arctic drilling plans, the U.S. would save $14 billion per year in oil imports and between 250,000 and 735,000 jobs are estimated to be created by development of the Coastal Plain. More than 75 percent of the citizens of Alaska, the Alaska legislature, the governor, the congressional delegation, and the residents of the North Slope Borough ( including those who live in the only village in the refuge ), support Coastal Plain oil and gas development.

ANWR is a 19 million acre refuge in northeast Alaska over half of which is designated as wilderness. The northern rim of ANWR, 1.2 million acres, was segregated by Congress for resource evaluation because of the potential for crude oil deposits beneath its surface. This area is called the Coastal Plain.
Tens of thousands strong herds of Caribou roam and migrate through the area and thousands of waterfowl nest and reproduce in Prudhoe Bay.
Other creatures such as Polar Bears (around 1000) live in this area of the ANWR with another 1000+ on the coast a short way from the refuge.
Polar bears will be exposed to new dangers and threats if oil exploration, development and extraction go ahead these include

• Death, injury or harassment resulting from interactions with humans (many bears who come too close to communities too often are killed or moved).
• Damage or destruction of essential habitat - just look at the extent of the damage caused by the Alberta Oil Sands and you will understand how such a project would affect the ANWR)
• Contact with and ingestion of Oil and other contaminents.
• Indirect food chain effects due to the impacts of oil and gas related activites on the good web upon which polar bears depend and are a part of.

Muskoxen an endangered species, with 350 in the refuge, live in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge year-round. Deep snow makes it difficult for these animals to survive as their fat-reserves are depleted and fewer calves produced, therefore, they move to areas that recieve less snow and/or are more sheltered. Such as the riparian area of habitats - which are also sites of important sources for water and gravel required for development and exploration. If the Muskoxen are displaced from these areas into deeper snow it will be a butterfly effect. In deeper snow the Muskoxen will expend more energy remaining warm, thus reducing their fat reserves which may well affect their survival.

Other species in the area include Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Bowhead Whales, Gray Whales, Killer Whales, Harbour Porpoise, Pacific Walrus, Bearded Seals, Spotted Seals, Ring Seals, Elk, Wolves, Dall Sheep, Wolverines, Arctic Foxes and Red Foxes. Such biodiversity in an area of a couple of million acres is unmatched anywhere in the U.S. and Canada and possibly in any other areas of Tundra.

Global warming the ANWR is very apparent, over the past century, the average temperature in the arctic region has increased by 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Sea ice is melting earlier, permafrost is thawing and the wildlife migrates at different times. Caribou are departing their wintering grounds a month earlier and still having trouble making it to the coastal plain in time for spring, when the most nutritious forage is available for their calves. Arctic foxes are facing increased competition from the red foxes that are moving north as the climate warms. If warming continues unabated, the melting of the permafrost and the transformation of much of the tundra into woodlands would dramatically affect the migratory birds that breed there and rely on tundra vegetation. That includes more than two-thirds of all geese and most sandpipers.

"At best, ANWR would pump out only about 1 million barrels per day in 2015, when all of the necessary pipelines are in place. That may seem a lot, but in fact it represents only 4% of anticipated U.S. petroleum consumption and 6% of all imports."
Arctic Drilling Is No Energy Answer Tapping ANWR wouldn't help much with the most pressing problem: American dependence on foreign oil.
by Michael T. Klare

The total production from ANWR would be between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030. So is it really worth entering a wilderness for such a small amount of oil and leaving it in what state?

Against Arctic drilling? Take action here.