The term ANWR, the abbreviation for the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, has been thrust into the lexicon of daily American use in
light of increased global energy demands and soaring energy costs
at home. ANWR has become the Maginot Line for environmentalists and
their Congressional supporters. Environmentalists have successfully
fought a nearly three-decade long battle to prohibit drilling for
oil in the petroleum-rich region. The entire refuge has been
portrayed as an idyllic slice of American wilderness filled with
colorful fauna, grazing wildlife, and babbling brooks nestled among
majestic mountains. This caricature has all of the trappings of a
Disney movie backdrop.
ANWR does include some of those splendorous images — and a bit
of everything else. At about 19.5 million acres, ANWR is the size
of the state of South Carolina. Located in Alaska’s northeast
corner and stretching from that state’s northern coast along the
frigid Arctic Ocean to two hundred miles south, ANWR includes a
broad spectrum of Alaskan wilderness. The spectacular geography of
the southern three-quarters of ANWR is offset by the flat, barren
and desolate northern slope along the coast. The two contrasting
landscapes are separated by the Brooks Mountain Range running east
and west.
The section of ANWR known as Area 10-02 is about 1.2 million
acres in size and includes a sliver of about 2,000 acres identified
for oil extraction. “It is the equivalent,” said Craig Williams,
“of a postage stamp on a football field.” Williams graduated from
high school in Alaska and has family that lives in the state, but
he now lives in Pennsylvania. A candidate for Pennsylvania’s 7th
Congressional District, Williams and six other U.S. House
candidates traveled to ANWR and the neighboring region on July
15-16 to get a first-hand look at the subject of so much
controversy.
Area 10-02 got its name from section 1002 of the “Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act,” legislation passed and
signed into law in December 1980 by a lame duck Congress and
President Jimmy Carter, following the landslide victory by Ronald
Reagan. The Act set aside more than 75 million acres of Alaska
territory as federally protected public lands in order to prevent
state and local development. Section 1002 specifically established
the guidelines for oil exploration in the region.
Joining Williams were congressional candidates Paul Stark
(Wisconsin-3), Luke Puckett (Indiana-2), Greg Goode (Indiana-8),
Mike Sodrel (Indiana-9), Chris Lien (South Dakota-AL), and Jason
Chaffetz (Utah-3). Five of the seven are challenging incumbent
members of Congress who vehemently oppose developing oil excavation
in Area 10-02. Chaffetz is running for a vacant seat after
defeating incumbent Chris Cannon in the Republican primary and
Puckett’s opponent, Rep. Joe Donnelly, recently abandoned his
opposition to ANWR drilling.
The logistics involved in traveling to ANWR were very
complicated, underscoring the remoteness of the region. Adrian
Herrera, an Alaskan official with the not-for-profit group Arctic
Power, helped plan the trip. Hiring a private aircraft to complete
the journey and survey Area 10-02 was a virtual necessity, without
having to resort to a multi-day, rugged overland trip.
THE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES also visited Prudhoe Bay,
approximately 75 miles to the west of Area 10-02 and the site of
the existing Alaska oil pipeline that would be used to carry ANWR
oil. Oil excavation has been under way in Prudhoe Bay since 1977.
The men wanted to inspect a current oil drilling operation to see
if it was the ecological disaster environmentalists claim will
befall Area 10-02.
“There was no environmental degradation. The area was pristine,”
said Stark. “I was impressed with the care the oil companies
undertake to protect the environment. They even place giant diapers
under the vehicles in order to capture anything that could possibly
fall.” Oil drilling is conducted only in the winter using ice roads
in order not to disturb the tundra. They are no roads to many of
the facilities during the non-winter months.
According to Stark, oil workers are fined if they violate any
rules that safeguard the environment or the wildlife, such as not
bringing a vehicle to a complete stop and turning off the engine if
caribou are present. A second violation brings immediate
dismissal.
Williams was similarly impressed in spite of confiding that he
was a bit skeptical before he made the trip. What he witnessed was
more remarkable than what he had anticipated. “These people are
responsible stewards of the environment,” he said. Williams noted
that the latest technology will allow ANWR drilling to occupy a
significantly smaller area of land than the 1970s technology that
was used to develop Prudhoe Bay. “The footprint is tiny, truly
tiny,” he said. “It is pencil dot on full page of paper.”
Leaseholders BP Oil and Conoco-Phillips are currently pumping
750,000 barrels each day (from a 1980s high of two million barrels
daily) from the Prudhoe Bay fields, with a reserve estimated to
have been in excess of 15 billion barrels. Area 10-02 is believed
to hold even larger petroleum reserves.
Suggestions that 10-02 is an area rich in wildlife and abundant
vegetation are flat-out wrong, observed Herrera. “Ten-oh-two is
located along the coastal plain, north of the Brooks Mountain
Range. It is flat and the actual ground is peat tundra,” said
Herrera. “There are no trees and no permanent wildlife. The caribou
do not have regular migratory patterns. They have passed through
the area four times in the last ten years. It is rather
desolate.”
THE ONLY SETTLEMENT in Area 10-02 is the City of Kaktovik, situated
about 150 miles to the east of Prudhoe Bay. Kaktovik is an island
community of about 280 native Kaktovikmiut people (often referred
to as “Inuit”) just off the mainland in the Arctic Ocean. The
lifestyle in Kaktovik is harsh by any standard. Kaktovik acquired
running water and flush toilets only four years ago. Winter lasts
for eight months. Nearly three of those months the area is plunged
into total darkness. Summer is fleeting, lasting only about six
weeks. The Area 10-02 tundra sits on hundreds of feet of
permafrost. It is not the beautiful landscape described by
environmental activists and their Congressional backers.
According to Herrera, ANWR opponents show photographs of the
Brooks Mountains located about 45 miles to the south of the area
identified for oil drilling in an apparent attempt to misrepresent
the true geographic nature of the area.
The delegation freely questioned villagers in Kaktovik and
Barrow, a village of about 4,000 people located nearly 300 miles to
the west of Area 10-02, and the county headquarters of the North
Slope Borough, the local government entity encompassing Alaska’s
north slope. “We did not meet a single villager or local official
opposed to drilling in the area,” reported Stark.
The Kaktovik villagers view ANWR drilling as critical to the
continuation of their lifestyle. They are shareholders of 92,000
acres in ANWR, including the subterranean mineral rights. Drilling
will bring in much-needed revenue to their ancestral area that is
plagued by astronomical prices due to the village’s remoteness. A
homebuilder by profession, Stark was informed it costs more than
$300,000 to build a 1,000 square foot home due to high material and
labor costs. Villagers are anxious to build a new school with ANWR
royalties.
The traveling contingent hired a professional video photographer
to record their trip and interviews. They intend to make the video
available in the days ahead. At a July 17 press conference in
Anchorage to report their findings, the seven congressional
candidates were joined by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and
Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell.
The worldwide demand for energy has squeezed oil supplies and
has led to skyrocketing fuel costs. As measured by the public
outcry, political opposition to domestic oil production has become
increasingly untenable. The absurdity of efforts to prevent
drilling in the U.S. is highlighted by a House bill passed in May
that would have the Justice Department sue OPEC nations for not
producing more oil to meet U.S. needs. ANWR opponents believe other
countries have an obligation to do exactly what they oppose the
U.S. could be doing at home. The political left’s long discredited
cry of “No blood for oil!” could be replaced with “Let’s sue for
oil!” Video recordings and first-hand observations offered by
Williams and the others will likely increase public pressure on
Congressional Democrats who oppose Area 10-02 oil excavation.
