Place: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Alaska)
Threat: Oil Drilling
 Located in the northeast corner of Alaska, the 19 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge is one of America's greatest wild natural treasures.
It is a remote and pristine
wilderness, untouched by development. Nestled between the Brooks Mountain Range and
the shores of the Beaufort Sea, the narrow coastal plain of the refuge is truly the heart of
biological activity in this untamed wilderness. The foothills, braided rivers and tundra of
the coastal plain is home to a diversity of wildlife unlike any other place in the United
States.
The shores along the Beaufort sea is one of the most important on-shore denning areas
for polar bears in the United States. Musk-oxen, reintroduced in the wake of over
hunting, have made a comeback on the coastal palin and rely on its resources year-round.
Grizzly bear and wolves roam the open tundra and Dall sheep thrive in the foothills of the
mountains. More than 130 species of birds rely on the coastal plain for breeding, nesting
and migratory stopovers on trips from the Baja peninsula, the Chesapeake Bay as well as
every state in the lower 48.
The coastal plain is also the calving grounds of the 130,000 member Porcupine River
caribou herd. Each spring, these caribou migrate over 400 miles to reach the coastal
plain where they give birth to their young and feed on the abundant plant life. These
animals sustain the Gwich'in Indians of interior Alaska and Canada whose traditional life
is inextricably linked with the caribou which provide food clothing and medicine. The
Gwich'in call the coastal plain "the sacred place where life begins."
But the Arctic Refuge is in peril, targeted by the Bush Administration and the oil industry
for full-scale oil development. During the 2000 campaign, President Bush pledged to
open the open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling and Administration has since made Arctic
drilling the centerpiece of the Bush-Cheney energy plan. Using rising oil prices and the
war with Iraq as justification, Bush has touted Arctic drilling as the answer to our nation's
energy security and national security needs.
But opening the Arctic Refuge to drilling is not the answer to our country's energy needs.
No one knows how much oil may lie beneath the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, but
Government experts have determined that the mean estimate of economically recoverable
oil is 3.2 billion barrel--less than the US consumes in just six months. Even the oil
industry says it would take ten years to bring that oil to market. Moreover, when America
sits on less than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves and yet consumes more than 25
percent of the world's oil, we cannot drill our way out of the problem. As long as we are
dependent on oil, we will be dependent on foreign oil.
“Allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge will guarantee destruction of this national
treasure,” says Sara Callaghan-Chapell with the Sierra Club in Alaska.
One look at Prudhoe Bay, 60 miles to the west of the Refuge, where oil conglomerates
have irreparably damaged the fragile tundra and its wildlife, proves that oil and wildlife
don't mix. Drilling for oil and gas there would require 280 miles of roads, hundreds of
miles of pipelines, 50 million cubic yards of gravel scoured from nearby ponds and
rivers, and massive production facilities.
“The coastal plain of the Arctic refuge is the only remaining stretch of the Arctic
coastline not open to oil and gas leasing. We cannot sacrifice such a unique landscape,”
says Chapell.
There is a better way. We don't have to plunder our last remaining wildlands to meet our
country's energy needs. America can pursue simple steps to cut our dependence on oil --
whether foreign or domestic. Our nation needs a comprehensive energy policy based on
conservation, alternative energy sources, and improved efficiency standards -- such as
making our cars go farther on a gallon of gas. Such a strategy will decrease our
dependence on oil, reduce pollution, and spare national treasures like the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge for future generations to enjoy.
Sierra Club Contact:
Sara Callaghan Chapell, Alaska:
Melinda Pierce, Washington, DC: (202) 675-7912
Additional Info:
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