White House, labor spur push for ANWR oil

The White House is redoubling its efforts to enact a national energy policy and is close to calling for an up-or-down Senate vote on drilling in Alaska, senior administration officials said.

On Thursday, President Bush will meet with union leaders who are intensely lobbying Senate Democrats to abandon their opposition to oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR).

"Passing my comprehensive energy plan is not just important for energy security, it is also vital to our economic security," the president said. "Economic growth requires reliable and affordable energy, and labor organizations support my plan because they know my energy plan means thousands of new jobs across America."

anwr.org

Coastal Plain

spring summer winter

Bush Renews Campaign For Arctic Oil [Excerpt] "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. [End Excerpt]

Environmentalist don't want a strong America.

Two tribes split on Alaskan oil plan [Excerpt] WASHINGTON - The Inupiat Eskimos and the Gwich'in Indians live 150 miles apart in Alaska, but they had to travel thousands of miles from their remote Alaskan homes before crossing paths in Capitol Hill corridors. They are literally and figuratively separated by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A couple of hundred Inupiat live in the town of Kaktovik on diminutive Barter Island, off Alaska's north coast - the only human community in the refuge. Roughly 150 Gwich'in live in Arctic Village, a hamlet just south of the refuge's border.

………. Sweeney described the subsistence living for the Inupiat of Kactovik in an area ''with no agriculture, no commercial fishing, no trees, and no tourism.'' But thanks to the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, they do have a stake in the oil that is pulled from the ground, a stake that over the years has provided billions of dollars in gross revenues to Inupiat people throughout Alaska.

''The only thing that brought our people out of Third World living conditions was the Prudhoe Bay development,'' she said, refering to the spread of oil development roughly 65 miles west along the arctic slope. The Prudhoe Bay fields will run out, and many Inupiat fear that the dollars that have started to modernize their communities will dry up as well. [End Excerpt]

America and Alaska BOTH need ANWR drilled! It's economical, environmentally safe, and a requirement for national security. Wonder when the Chinese hired Dashole....bout the same time they hired Hill and Bill??? Quick education for those not familiar with Alaska - seeings I was born in the territory of Alaska and have over 40 years there.

Alaska was purchased from the Russians in 1876. Other than a couple of gold rushes and furring, not much changed the place.

First oil exploration was by Cordova, and the Kenai Penninsula between the 1930's and 50's.

World war II saw Japanese land, and ocuppy Shemya and Attu. Canada and U.S.A. built the Alcan highway to Alaska - basically overnight (no idiotic environazi's in those days)This also made Alaska accessable for the first time to the rest of the world.

Alaska slowly grew as a Military outpost for the most part and mining and furring was still good. In 1959 Alaska became a state.

In 1969(this is from memory so it may not be exact) Arco drilled discovery well #1. The beginning of the biggest oil boom in modern day. A pipeline was built for 8 billion dollars between 1974 and 1977(that's 3 years total). and the rest(including well over 13 billion barrels of oil to date) is history.

With government, over time(50 years) the government was supposed to divvy up the country, in regard to properties and ownerships, and Alaska's contract with America called for 90% of all revenue to go to Alaska - Not the FED. Today as you read this, over 86% of the land is held by the Fed's. There is more private ownership of property in Russia than in Alaska!

In 1986, thanks to an everexpanding environazi movement, we lost our 250 claims to an expansion of a park(WITHOUT REDRESS!)to the government. The property is now offically a U.N. biospere. This could be a great opportuity for private enterprise (and citizens) to help gain back some of it's losses (land-wise in other activities in the state) because of the green machine. With over 7 years in the oilpatch industry in Alaska let be among the many screaming to....

DRILL
ANWR

FROM ……http://www.anwr.org/topten.htm

TOP 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT IN ANWR

1. Only 8% of ANWR Would Be Considered for Exploration Only the 1.5 million acre or 8% on the northern coast of ANWR is being considered for development. The remaining 17.5 million acres or 92% of ANWR will remain permanently closed to any kind of development. If oil is discovered, less than 2000 acres of the over 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain would be affected.
2. Revenues to the State and Federal Treasury Federal revenues would be enhanced by billions of dollars from bonus bids, lease rentals, royalties and taxes. Estimates in 1995 on bonus bids alone were $2.6 billion.
3. Jobs To Be Created Between 250,000 and 735,000 jobs are estimated to be created by development of the Coastal Plain.
4. Economic Impact Between 1980 and 1994, North Slope oil field development and production activity contributed over $50 billion to the nations economy, directly impacting each state in the union.
5. America's Best Chance for a Major Discovery The Coastal Plain of ANWR is America's best possibility for the discovery of another giant "Prudhoe Bay-sized" oil and gas discovery in North America. U.S. Department of Interior estimates range from 9 to 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
6. North Slope Production in Decline The North Slope oil fields currently provide the U.S. with nearly 25% of it's domestic production and since 1988 this production has been on the decline. Peak production was reached in 1980 of two million barrels a day, but has been declining to a current level of 1.4 million barrels a day.
7. Imported Oil too Costly The U.S. imports over 55% of the nation's needed petroleum. These oil imports cost more than $55.1 billion a year (this figure does not include the military costs of protecting that imported supply). These figures are rising and could exceed 65% by the year 2005.
8. No Negative Impact on Animals Oil and gas development and wildlife are successfully coexisting in Alaska's arctic. For example, the Central Arctic Caribou Herd (CACH) at Prudhoe Bay has grown from 3,000 to as high as 23,400 during the last 20 years of operation. In 1995, the Central Arctic Caribou Herd size was estimated to be 18,100 animals.
9. Arctic Technology Advanced technology has greatly reduced the 'footprint" of arctic oil development. If Prudhoe Bay were built today, the footprint would be 1,526 acres, 64% smaller.
10. Alaskans Support More than 75% of Alaskans favor exploration and production in ANWR. The Inupiat Eskimos who live in and near ANWR support onshore oil development on the Coastal Plain.

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"

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