Arctic Refuge drilling controversy
The [[Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is believed to contain large amoutns of oil. Oil interest in the region goes back to the late 1960s. ANWR is just east of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska's "North Slope," North America's largest oil field. From 1990 to 2000, the area accounted for 25% of U.S. domestic oil production. The local Inupiat Eskimos in the closest village to the proposed drilling site support drilling, 78% in favor and 9% opposed.[1] The Gwich'in Indians some distance away are said to be opposed to drilling yet there does not appear to be any survey data.
Before Clinton
In 1987, Canada and the U.S. signed the Agreement on the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd treaty which was designed to protect the herd and its habitat from damage or disruptions in migration routes. Canada's Ivvavik National Park and Vuntut National Park borders ANWR. The Canadian government believes that any oil development in ANWR could disrupt migratory routes of the herd in the region.
In 1989, many in Congress were interested in exploratory drilling in and around ANWR. That interest waned shortly after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.
Clinton Administration
Environmentalists pressed U.S. President Bill Clinton to declare ANWR a Refuge Monument. Doing so would have banned any and all drilling within ANWR. However, it would not have banned slant drilling (aka directional drilling) around the perimeter of the land. While Clinton did create several refuge monuments, most at the very end of his tenure, ANWR was not on his list.
George W. Bush Administration
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush pushed to perform exploratory drilling for oil and gas in and around the refuge. The House of Representatives voted in mid-2000 to allow drilling. In April 2002, the Senate rejected it.
Although drilling approval is not yet final, Congress has had language in H.R.6 PCS (Section 2207 paragraph (a)3) that authorizes production equipment and infrastructure to occupy an above ground "footprint" of no more than 2,000 of ANWR's 19 million acres (77,000 km²), approximately 0.01%.[2] Other language in the bill (Section 2204 paragraph d) allows exploration and drilling companies to lease underground oil rights in at least 200,000 acres (800 km²), approximately 1% of ANWR. The difference in area is technically feasible by using directional drilling methods.
ANWR Drilling was approved by the House of Representatives as part of the Energy Bill on April 21, 2005. [3] The House voted, 249-183, to approve ANWR drilling.[4] An amendment to remove ANWR Drilling from the Energy Bill proposed by Edward Markey(D-MA) failed on a vote of 200-231.[5] The Senate had already passed approval for ANWR drilling on March 16th, 2005 as part of the budget (Section 304 a) for fiscal year 2006.[6] But because this was a budget bill, and not the energy bill, drilling approval is not final. ANWR drilling was removed from the Energy Bill (H.R.6) prior to final Senate passage during House-Senate reconcilliation under threat of a Democrat filibuster in the Senate.
Budget bills require only a majority vote and are not subject to filibusters. The House will tackle ANWR drilling again in its version of the budget September, 2005. The funding is only authorized if "the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reports a bill or joint resolution, or an amendment is offered thereto, or a conference report is submitted thereon, that permits exploration and production of oil in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and such measure is enacted" and "the reconciliation instruction set out in section 201(a)(4) is met."
Estimates of oil reserves
There have been conflicting reports as to the amount of oil in ANWR. USGS studies show between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels (0.9 to 2.5 km³), 5 to 95 % probability range existed in ANWR, with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels (1.7 km³). Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels (0.7 and 1.9 km³,5 to 95 % probability range, with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels (1.2 km³).
Estimates of job creation
The National Defense Council Foundation, a non-profit non-aligned 501(c)(3) organization, estimates 2,210,418 US jobs would created, directly and indirectly, by opening ANWR to oil drilling including 1,074,640 from oil development and 1,135,778 from natural gas development.[7] As of August 2005 number of US unemployed persons was 7,400,000 and unemployment rate was 4.9% according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. [8]
Other estimates [9] often cited by proponents of oil exploration including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,[10] predict the direct creation of up to 735,000 jobs. Opponents dispute these claims arguing that much of the infrastructure required for oil exploration is already in place in Alaska and would simply be repurposed. Even so, the opponents estimate that up to 65,000 new jobs might be created. [11]