ANWR: To Drill Or Not To Drill?

Much of the opposition to oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has an almost theological tinge.

The details are overshadowed by a sense of sacrilege: Grubbing for mere petroleum in the "crown jewel" of the nation's wildlife refuge system?

Don't Drill:


"One of the best arguments against development is not that it would destroy the refuge, but that it would only postpone America's inevitable reckoning with the approaching era of petroleum scarcities. It would make sense to keep ANWR's oil where it is, for now, as a sort of huge strategic petroleum reserve.

The way Congress and the administration are headed, though, ANWR's reserves will be pumped dry so Americans can continue to consume gasoline as if the planet were afloat on petroleum. That's the worst possible reason for sinking drills in the wildlife refuge."

Tacoma News Tribune editorial.

Drill:


""Environmaniacs" claim ANWR is a "crown jewel," referring to the beautiful Brooks Range mountains seen in all the anti-drilling photos, yet they're actually 50-100 miles from the coastal plain. The potentially oil-rich area is just flat, treeless tundra.

Winters on the ANWR coastal plain last for nine months – there is total darkness for 58 consecutive days and temperatures drop to 70 degrees below zero. Spit, and your saliva freezes before it hits the ground. But the nasty conditions mean drilling can be done with ice airstrips, roads and ice pad platforms.

When spring finally arrives, the ice pads would all melt, leaving no sign of the drill crews. The caribou would return, along with arctic fox, geese, shore birds and swarms of vicious mosquitoes ("large enough to slow dance with a turkey"). Incidentally, in the arctic, mosquitoes hatch in such multitudes they can actually turn the sky gray.

Opponents of drilling in ANWR say, "it's the nation's last true wilderness, a hallowed place, and a pristine environmental area." But last summer in a Washington Times article titled, "Hardly a Pretty Place: Use ANWR for Oil Exploration," Jonah Goldberg described it this way: "[I]f you wanted a picture to go with the word 'Godforsaken' in the dictionary, ANWR would do nicely."

Are you tired of allowing Middle East oil monopolies to hold America in a black gold stranglehold by making us pay $2, $3 and soon $4 for a gallon of gas? Me, too. That's why I'm in favor of Alaska drilling. If we're going to have to continue importing oil, I'd rather send my dollars to Alaska, instead of to the Middle East. How about you?"

Craig R. Smith @ World Net Daily.

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Does the Middle East really have a stranglehold on the United States? The Middle East countries are bordered in pink. You decide...