I've advocated drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for many years. Estimates of the oil below ANWR range from 5 billion barrels to as many as 16 billion barrels, with most estimates coming in at 10 billion. That's enough oil to produce a million barrels a day for about 30 years.
Our nation's demand for oil has been increasing for decades while our oil production has been stalling.
Domestic oil production hasn't been stalled because we can't find any new oil; rather, it's stalled because congress (both Democrats and too many Republicans) panders to environmental extremists.
Environmental extremists would have us believe that if use 2,000 acres out of the 19 million-acre ANWR (0.01% of the area) to drill for oil, we will doom the horde of wildlife in Alaska to extinction and wreck the delicate ecology of the area. That is simply not the case.
First, consider the small area involved; 0.01% of ANWR.
Second, the drilling platforms are raised up off the ground, further reducing their "footprint" on the land.
According to Mark Mosbrucker, a Box Elder man who works the Alaskan oil fields, there isn't a whole lot of wildlife in that area. I interviewed him about three years ago and he said that the area is only green about three months out of the year, and there are very few animals that live there. He said the caribou, which are frequently the object of concern for environmentalists, love the drilling platforms because they provide warmth and shelter from the cold winds. The caribou have thrived since we began drilling in Alaska several decades ago.
In other words, the real picture is not the one painted by environmental extremists and their allies in the "mainstream" media.
Senator John Thune visited ANWR in 2005 and found that out for himself. Now, according to the Rapid City Journal, Republican candidate for the U.S. House Chris Lien of Rapid City will also visit ANWR. Lien is challenging Democrat Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.
Lien said in a prepared statement issued Thursday afternoon that the trip is in response to concerns about high gas prices that he heard during a tour of all 66 counties in South Dakota. Lien said more can be done to recover available oil reserves in Alaska, as well as parts of Montana, Colorado, North Dakota and northwest South Dakota.
“South Dakotans have told me that enough is enough. They don’t want political leaders who just point at problems,” Lien said. “The people of this state have asked me to find solutions. I plan to visit the region in person to determine the impacts it would have on the region and the energy crisis.”
"In the past 35 days, I have traveled to all 66 counties in South Dakota and the number one concern on everyone's mind is the cost of gas and fuel. Yet, all we see from Congress is more political posturing without any solutions," Lien said in a press release. "I am leading this trip to ANWR to see firsthand the energy solutions that exist here in the United States and I call on Congresswoman Herseth Sandlin to join me in the effort to find solutions today for this crisis situation."
Lien will go with several other congressional candidates on July 14-17. He will likely see what many others have seen: the oil beneath ANWR can greatly help America's energy needs, and can do so without harming the environment.
This trip will provide the firsthand knowledge he will need to push for opening ANWR to drilling when Lien gets to Washington in January 2009.
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