Arctic national wildlife refuge oil drilling pros and cons. To drill or not to drill? ANWR vs. the Arctic Ocean 2019-01-10
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ANWR: The Great Divide
The term technically recoverable oil is based on the price per barrel where oil that is more costly to drill becomes viable with rising prices. According to labor leaders, how could drilling impact the job market? This past Monday, President Obama did something oil companies actually approved of. Last week, the Senate voted to open up the refuge to oil and for the first time ever. Alternative sources of energy, the renewable sources in particular, have become more preferred and we have made some progress in exploring the various greener and more sustainable options. The company originally bid on and won the lease back in 2008.
Environmentalists are calling it a devastating blow. It is simply too special to drill. The coastal plain is the historical home of the Gwich'in people and is the spot where each year a herd of nearly 200,000 caribou travel to birth their young. I think they're underestimating the iconic value of Alaska and the frontier. Then ask: What is the controversy surrounding this area? These include caribou, musk oxen, porcupines, ravens, gulls, arctic foxes, wolves, snow geese, shorebirds and seabirds, and polar bears. Morris Udall, chairman of the , said he would reintroduce legislation to turn the entire coastal plain into a wilderness area, effectively giving the refuge permanent protection from development.
The petroleum industry is lauding the decision as a major victory. During these months, major storms, frigid waters and 50-foot-high waves are common. Both sides of the controversy announced they would attempt to change it in the next session of Congress. It could take a decade or more for Alaska to work out leasing details with interested oil companies. The House of Representatives voted in mid-2000 to allow drilling. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers 19. The Republican-controlled Senate passed Arctic Refuge drilling on March 16, 2005 as part of the federal budget resolution for fiscal year 2006.
We must develop energy sources in America, for the American consumer, while safeguarding American security. What are some reasons given by supporters to begin drilling in the Arctic refuge? The national debt could be greatly reduced. Shell has taken important steps to prevent and stop a spill, but anyone following their Arctic drilling campaign has gotten a sense of the danger posed by nature in Alaska, particularly when a powerful storm in late 2012 blew Shell's Kulluk drilling rig aground. There is no Guarantee Prospect is a funny business. Section 1002 of the act stated that a comprehensive inventory of fish and wildlife resources would be conducted on 1.
Spring keeps coming earlier to the Arctic, but the deer have kept to their age-old schedules, meaning they miss the prime foraging season. Nestled between Siberia and Alaska, with an area of 230,000 square miles, the Chukchi Sea is navigable only four months of the year. So how much oil are we really talking about? Toward the end of 1976, with the virtually complete, major conservation groups shifted their attention to how best to protect the hundreds of millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness unaffected by the pipeline. They wander across the remote wilderness of the refuge, travelling thousands of miles during their annual migration. In January 2015, President Barack Obama proposed to designate 12.
It Would Keep Our Dollars Local When it comes to oil, the United States imports about 50% of what it means annually. After that, it should decline to about 7. Pros and Cons The argument for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is economic. Now imagine moving this same type of operation from warm, tropical waters to the cold, frigid environment of the Arctic. For more than a century, the economic vitality of Washington state and Alaska has been intertwined. Migratory patterns of animals are also affected.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Faces New Drilling Risk from Congress
That delay is because of the comprehensive environmental-impact study necessary to ensure that the environment is protected. Fortunately, the caribou were not as cautious as expected—Boelman says she sees caribou grazing underneath the pipeline as if it wasn't even there. If we could find local sources of oil, like those that are found in the Refuge, then the billions of dollars that are spent to import oil every year could be spent at home instead. The 100,000-plus caribou of the Porcupine River herd are a focal point for the Gwich'in people: they are a main source of sustenance as well as the key element in the group's rituals, dances and stories. However, one of the major negative aspects of drilling for oil in Alaska is the damage that it could do to the environment. Potential for Catastrophe An Arctic spill could be even more disastrous than the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.
The Last Frontier Boelman has firsthand experience with the oil industry in Alaska. Senate had opposed similar legislation in the past and filibusters were threatened. And those are just the obstacles in fair weather. Ironically, she says the only reason she and her colleagues are able to gather data from the far-flung regions of the 49th state is because of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. As for offshore development, the state would currently receive.
The Pros and Cons of Arctic Oil Drilling (And Why We Should Start Now)
The report said that the and potentials of the coastal plain were needed for the country's economy and. Predators such as arctic foxes, ravens and gulls have thrived, feeding on garbage around the oil fields, but they also prey on rarer and in some cases endangered birds, the report said. These habitats support a number of large animals—including caribou, musk oxen, wolves, wolverines, and polar bears—and some 135 different bird species. Drilling the Arctic Refuge could alter the annual path of the Porcupine caribou herd, one of the longest land mammal migrations in the world. His research focuses on climate policy, transportation, and economic development.
Christie Whitman, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said it confirms drilling can be done safely. The Inupiat, Gwitch'in, and other tribes are calling for sustainable energy practices and policies. At the same time, warmer conditions support hordes of mosquitoes and flies that can attack, weaken, and kill calves. Till we have an abundant source of energy that is as readily available, reliable and potent as oil, the dependence will exist. Apparently, not everyone is traveling to their destinations on bicycles. Seismic pulses caused by earthquakes can scare the wildlife away.
