Drilling in Alaska

The drilling in Alaska has always been a debated issue. The Artic National Wildlife Refuge is said to contain a large supply of oil, and because of this, drilling for oil there has been a debated issue since World War II. This battle between rival parties has been going on since the 39th president, Jimmy Carter. With that being said, the drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge should be stopped and the idea to even consider it should be abolished.

The oil supply in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not worth the potential environmental damage. The refuge houses a great deal of wildlife. It supports more varieties of plants and animals than any other protected area in the Artic circle. Without a doubt, the drilling will affect many areas important to wildlife. Just think, if an oil spill occurs, it can poison and kill many ecosystems. Such oil spills will also be very difficult to clean up due to the coldwater and broken ice conditions.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge is North America’s largest oil field and is estimated to have at least 4.3 billion (and possibly as much as 11.8 billion) barrels of oil. The United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil daily and 7 billion barrels of oil yearly. If the United States needs the oil for its daily needs, then it should simply cut down on its oil usage and start focusing more on protecting the environment.

The Bush Administration has always supported the drilling in Alaska in its goal of developing more domestic energy production. Many different organizations have banded together to stop the oil drilling including theSierra Club, the Environmental News Network, the National Resource Defense Council, and the Save the ANWR (Artic National Wildlife Refuge) group. Luckily, as of today, efforts to allow drilling have been stopped, but the debate continues.