A mild surprise. USAToday advocates drilling for oil in the reserved section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The reasons are pretty compelling:
• ANWR has at least 6 billion and maybe 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil, U.S. Geological Survey says. It could provide 1 million barrels a day for 30 years, or about 5% of daily consumption. It wouldn't reduce gas prices next week or next year, but it would help ease the nation's long-term energy crunch.
• It could be done without wrecking the environment. Opponents claim drilling would ruin the pristine beauty of the refuge. But the experience with oil development at nearby Prudhoe Bay is encouraging. The caribou herd has flourished there, and newer technology means the environmental impact of drilling can be minimized.
Only 2,000 acres of the 19 million-acre ANWR refuge would be subject to drilling, in an area so remote that few Americans not associated with the oil industry will ever see it.
• Drilling would have economic benefits. It could create 250,000 to 735,000 jobs nationwide, supporters say. Energy companies would pay as much as $10 billion for the rights to drill in ANWR, to be evenly split between Alaska and the federal government, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
I have in the past leaned toward keeping the ANWR reserves closed, precisely so they would remain reserves. But I am inclined to think that the next couple of decades will the tough ones where energy is concerned. After that, we will probably have the technology to ease or escape our dependence on oil. But in the meantime, India and China will begin to soak up enormous portions of the world oil supply. We probably ought to open up ANWR now. It will be several years before the oil is actually available.
Recent Comments