Bush Renews Campaign For Arctic Oil

AP | 2/25/02 | AP

[anniegetyourgun]

WASHINGTON- President Bush on Saturday renewed his campaign to open an Arctic refuge to oil exploration, contending that drilling is essential to national security and job creation.

Bush, in his weekly radio address, said that plan is vital to his goal of making the United States less dependent on foreign energy sources. He also wants to promote energy efficiency, develop wind and solar power, build fuel-efficient vehicles and combat pollution.

His bid to overturn the 1980 ban on drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the refuge remains the most contested element of his energy plan. It probably will face a filibuster from senators who believe the drilling would have serious environmental consequences.

Debate in the Senate on an energy bill was expected to begin this week. The House version, passed in the summer, permits drilling in a 1.5 million-acre section of the refuge.

Bush contends the drilling can move ahead with minimal environmental harm, and he says there is little choice.

"Conservation technology and renewables are important. Yet they alone cannot solve our energy problems," Bush said in the radio address. "We must also reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of oil by encouraging safe and clean exploration at home."

The president, who just returned from six days in Asia, began his trip with a stop in Anchorage, Alaska. He said he found support in the state for a "balanced, comprehensive and aggressive energy plan" that includes further developing Alaska's oil reserves.

"Alaskans know firsthand that modern technology allows us to bring oil to the surface cleanly and safely, while protecting our environment and wildlife," Bush said.

Other elements of the Bush proposal would upgrade electric power lines, modernize other energy delivery systems and develop new fuel-efficient technologies, such as cars powered with hydrogen.

"America is already using more energy than our domestic resources can provide and unless we act to increase our energy independence, our reliance on foreign sources of energy will only increase," Bush said. He cited projections that U.S. oil consumption will increase by about one-third over the next 20 years while the demand for electricity rises by about 45 percent.

"We all remember the blackouts and the sky-high energy bills of recent summers," he said. "I urge Congress to protect consumers from these wild swings in energy prices for the future."

The government estimates that at least 5.7 billion barrels of oil - and possibly as many as 16 billion barrels - may be recoverable from the Arctic refuge.

Environmentalists say the refuge contains no more than 3.2 billion barrels, not enough to dramatically ease the country's reliance on imports. They assert that drilling there would endanger polar bears, musk oxen, 130 species of migrating birds and thousands of caribou.

[1Old Pro]

I'm glad to see this back on the front burner.

[anniegetyourgun]

It never left his agenda - but as you know, timing is important.

[Stand Watch Listen]

ANWAR…

• ANWR total area: 19,600,000 acres
• ANWR designated wilderness part: 8,000,000 acres
• ANWR coastal plain (not part of wilderness area) designated long ago by Congress for oil exploration study: 1,500,000 acres
• Coastal plain area needed for oil extraction: 2,000 acres (0.01% of the total ANWR area)

In 1998 the USGS did a study that concluded that there are between 5.7 billion to 16 Billion barrels of recoverable Oil in the "1002" Area of ANWR.

An exploration rig seen damaging the tundra and disturbing the abundent wildlife on the costal plane of ANWR

Beautiful Spring day in "Americas Serengetti"

That is a LOT of oil!

and it dosent even take into consideration the nearly 200 TRILLION cubic feet of natural gas there (over 150 years supply at the current rate of use in the U.S.)

A little perspective on the size of ANWR development:

Only 2,000 acres out of 19.5 MILLION are even under consideration for drilling. And those 19.5 million acres are but a FRACTION of the total land mass of Alaska. Also, contrary to dire predictions of the devasting impact on wildlife that would occur when we ran the pipeline in Prudhoe bay, the caribou herd there have actually grown to record numbers.

For REAL information on ANWR, click here for info on ANWR and here for an excellent article by Linda Chavez about how Alaskans themselves view it.

The Heritage Foundation also has an article which simply and plainly states the case for drilling here.
Also read The National Center for Public Policy Research Press Release entitled "Bush Is Right: Opening ANWR To Oil Exploration Would Help Consumers Without Hurting Environment"

[anniegetyourgun]

Great stuff - thanks!

[RobFromGa]

excellent charts and graphs and info-- even though pesky things like facts will never dissuade the enviroNAZIs.

Seems kind of nuts that its OK to build the beautiful industrial things one sees around Newark, NJ where there are people aplenty, yet we should not "spoil" a place which is so remote and so interchangeable with so much acreage with almost identical terrain and climate.

[banyanroot]

For further perspective regarding Alaskan's opinion, see Inupiat Leader Asks Senators to Visit ANWR And Listening To Alaska. Also, look at the survey by the Inupiats of Kaktovik (a community in ANWR) ANWR Survey.

[banyanroot]

Bump

[Grampa Dave]

annie, thanks for this thread. BR, thanks for the ping!

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the excellent post and pictures/graphs!

The Opecker Nations and Mullah Shorty Da$$hole's survivial depends on us being dependent on Opecker oil. If we drill in Anwr, find the oil and transport it to America, the Opecker nations will be forced to sell their oil at really low prices or revert to camel herders and goat humpers.

Mullah Shorty Da$$hole and his fellow Enviral Senators like ChiFi, Boxer, Kerry, Kennedy and __________ are enviral hand puppet senators. Thanks to capaign money from the enviral organizations and their voting cult members, these demonicRats are the richest and most powerful people in the World. They want us dependent on Opecker Oil.!

[Carry_Okie]

Beautiful post, SWL.

[banyanroot]

Bump List