ANWR is our only wilderness fully above the Arctic Circle.
The amount that the price of gas would be affected by the introduction of ANWR oil to the market would only be about 23 cents and it would take 15 years for ANWR oil to reach the market. The oil would then be used up and prices returned to previous rated in 9 months. Even at peak production, arctic oil would represent only 2% of total U.S. daily demand.
At Prudhoe Bay, home to one of the world's largest industrial complexes, 43,000 tons of nitrogen oxides pollute the air each year. Hundreds of spills involving tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil and other petroleum products occur annually. Decades--old diesel spill sites still show little regrowth of vegetation. Gravel fill, excavation and waste disposal alone have destroyed 17,000 acres of wildlife and marine habitat.
America could save far more oil simply by increasing the fuel efficiency of our cars and light trucks. But Congress has refused to encourage American car companies to make cars that are more efficient and voting against research and incentives for alternate energy use. When Congress passed the CAFÉ law, it did not require automakers to steadily improve light truck fuel economy because these vehicles comprised only 20% of the vehicle fleet. Today, SUV's and other light trucks are nearly 50% of the new vehicles sold.
While close to half our oil is produced domestically, the U.S. has less that 3% of the world's known oil reserves. The numbers will never add up to oil independence.
Oil has extensive environmental impacts that begin with drilling and continue through to burning it in our cars and light trucks. The coastal plain is also sacred ground to the Gwich'in Indians, a 20,000-year-old native culture whose subsistence lifestyle depends upon the gravest of caribou.
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I think the people in favor of drilling in ANWR know and accept that oil is a non-renewable resource.
