home mission 2007  team research sources progress journal  about me	Summaries of Articles [Report Raises Tough Questions About Drilling in ANWR] [Report Raises Tough Questions About Drilling in ANWR] [Oil in the Arctic] [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] Levendosky, Charles (2001). "Report Raises Tough Questions About Drilling in ANWR." Casper Star-Tribune. Retrieved 9/22/03 from www.sacredland.org/levendosky_article.html. Summary -Bush administration (and those who receive large campaign contributions from oil/gas) are using terms such as "national security" and "patriotism" to cover up their profit-driven motives. -We will never be oil independent, and even the most optimistic estimates of ANWR say it will only provide about one percent of the nation's daily life over the avergae field's lifespan of forty years. -Oct. 17 issue of Oil & Gas Journal says that U.S. has no shortage of oil supplies, even with the war in Iraq. -Aug. 2 House energy bill (H.R. 4) authorizes drilling in the 1002 area of ANWR. -In February, Senator Frank Murkowski (R - AL) introduced bill (S. 388) that authorizes drilling in the Coastal Plain of ANWR, but this bill has been stalled in committee since May. -Report prepared for Congress by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes that "opening 1002 Area (the Coastal Plain) of ANWR to oil and gas development also opens Alaska Native lands within ANWR to such development -- all 100,000 acres." -Both bills use phrase "no significant adverse effect," which is a very low environmental standard in terms of a guide to leasing. -These bills also preempt Endangered Species Act by granting the authority to close an area to protect wildlife solely to the secretary of the Interior. -" The authority to close areas on a seasonal basis to allow wildlife migration or to isolate caribou calving grounds only applies to exploratory drilling activities. The Senate bill grants no authority to Interior for seasonal closures during the production phase of oil and gas development." -Both energy bills would allow oil to be exported (only stoppable by President if not in national interest). [Top] Miller, Pamela. "The Impact of Oil Development on Prudhoe Bay." Arctic Connections. Retrieved 9/22/03 from www.arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/arcticconnections.htm. Summary -Many, many spills occur in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields (average of 409 annually) which are very toxic to plant life. -Study found substantial hydrocarbons remained in soil about 30 years later and only slight vegetation recovery. -Prudhoe Bay is major source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions (54,427 tons of oxides of nitrogen annually - more than 2x amount emitted by DC area). -Cheap disposal methods and lack of pollution controls lead to quick build-up of pollutants in snow, rivers, and air. -British Petroleum found guilty of disposing benezene and other illegal substances for at least three years (had to pay $15.5 million in criminal charges and implement environmental management program). -More than 55 contaminated sites associated with oil drilling exist on North Slope. -Industrial sprawl associated with oil drilling has devestated area of Arctic as large as Rhode Island (exceed Interior Department's predictions in 1972 Trans-Alaska Pipeline EIS). -Technology has reduced size of drilling sites, but oil development requires construction of many new ones. -Effects of oil development extend far out beyond physical "footprint" of drilling site. [Top] "Oil in the Arctic." Greenpeace Arctic Action. Retrieved 9/22/03 from www.greenpeaceusa.org/arctic/media/exxonnorthstartext.htm. Summary -Modern age of oil development in AL began in 1968 (Prudhoe Bay and Trans-Alaska Pipeline); now more than 32 oil fields on North Slope and may be 50 satellite fields offshore. -Clinton administration opened nearly 5 million acres of wilderness in NE corner of National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A: 23 million acre region set aside in 1923 for use only during nat'l emergency). -Oil industry continues to lobby for access to 1.5 million coastal plain of ANWR ("America's Serengeti"). -Burning of fossil fuels is adding large amounts of "greenhouse gases" to atmosphere, has caused the following: - Two insect pests (black-headed budworm and spruce bark beetle) have destroyed 5 million acres of spruce forests (warm summers have stressed trees and allowed insect pop. to halve breeding cycles). - Cooper Island colony of black guillemots is in decline, b/c ice flows and cod are retreating. - Studies have shown shrinking/melting of permafrost as result of warmer temperatures. - Native villagers have testified that ice is forming later in fall, breaking up sooner in spring, and being thinner and less stable than usual; migratory paths have changed; erosion/mudslides have occurred (makes hunting/gathering more dangerous and uncertain). -Greenpeace suggests US administartion shifts money from oil subsidies into researching alternate energy sources. [Top] "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." World Wildlife Foundation. Retrieved 9/22/03 from http://www.panda.org/resources/publications/climate/parks/dr_na_park2.htm. Summary -Arctic National Wildlife Refuge largest in U.S. and one of the largest in world (19.5 million hectacres). -Many rare species still common (grizzly bears, lynx, wolverines, eagles, and wolves). -ANWR is home to species found nowhere besides polar regions, such as polar bears, arctic foxes, collared lemmings, arctic and tundra hares, and musk oxen. -ANWR very susceptible to global warming (models predict warming will be greatest at high latitudes, especially in winter). -Warming of 30 degrees Celsius would result in almost complete loss of mainland tundra ecosystems from N. America; further warming would limit arctic ecosystems to high arctic islands. -Models predicted that by 2100 the tundra would be reduced nearly 40% (gone from continental land masses). -Earth's northern regions have not experienced such warming for as many as 20 million years. -Temperature has pervasive influence in determining geographic locations of arctic plants. -Species richness would decrease by 30% to 50% if warming occurred (especially among forbes and mosses). -Arctic plants and animals depend on one and another; if one species dies out, the impact will seriously impact others. -Spring has been arriving earlier and earlier on the coast, forcing the caribou herd to leave its wintering grounds early or miss period of maximum plant growth (unfailingly concentrate on 1002 lands for calving). -Porcupine Caribou Management Board: "eviction from the calving grounds, for whatever reason, would throw the herd into a chaos from which it may never recover" [Top] Last Updated 9/28/03.
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