Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Dispute

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, is a refuge geared toward preserving national wildlife in northeastern Alaska. ANWR is roughly 19 zillion acres, in space, and contains a potential drill spot for inunct and petroleum. The potential drilling spot is a small field of study cognise as the 10-02 realm. It is further 1. 5 million acres, or 8%, of ANWR, would purge be considered for development (What is ANWR). The controversy surrounding ANWR is whether to drill or not to drill into the 10-02 area. Some people want to preserve the wilderness and to surface more fuel-efficient technologies.Others want to land gas prices and to earn more line of merchandise opportunities. If the government decides to drill for crude oil, it could possibly lead to about 17 one thousand thousand barrels of oil, to last the United States for the next 20 years. According to the formalised ANWR website, Prudhoe Bay is located 60 miles west of ANWR and has produced about 10 gazillion bar rels of oil in the past 20 years. It is up-to-the-minutely producing about 1. 4 million barrels a day, but is slowly declining this induces the engage for a new source. The northeastern part of ANWR is Americas take up opportunity in finding another oil and gas orbit the size of Prudhoe Bay.The coastal plain of ANWR could produce up to 1. 5 million barrels of oil a day and would save the U. S. $14 million a year in imports (Making the solecism). 75% of Alaskans want to drill in the designated ANWR area, 10-02. They feel that it could possibly relieve Ameri green goddesss of their foreign dependency for imported oil and petroleum. The United States currently spends up to $330 billion on foreign oil imports, not including the money used to protect and acquire it. The total area of area10-02 only amounts to 8% of ANWRs total area, which is 1. million acres. Out of the 1. 5 million acres considered for development, only 2,000 acres of the Coastal Plain would truly be affected, wh ich is less(prenominal) than half of one percent (Top decennium). Drilling in ANWR would as well as create anywhere from 250,000 to 750,000 job opportunities, as well as an opportunity to better the economy. Drilling in ANWR also has no usurpation on wildlife. This can be proven by the fact that the commutation Arctic Caribou Herd that migrates through Prudhoe Bay has grown from 3,000 to its current population of about 32,000 healthy caribou.The total amount of oil that is anticipate from ANWR estimates from 9 to 16 billion barrels (Making the Case). There is also an bed to drilling in ANWR. Although it would considerably lower gas prices, it would take or so ten years for the oil to actually reach the marketplace. Clara Tsang argues that sort of of drilling in ANWR, the government should produce more energy-efficient technologies. She also states that during the peak of drilling, only 876,000 barrels of oil will be produced a day. That is not comme il faut oil to significa ntly reduce world oil prices.She states that the 2000 acres designated for drilling, Area 10-02, only accounts for where the actual equipment will be, not including the areas of the oil reservoirs. Lastly, Tsang argues the destruction of moral and spiritual grounds for conserving a place for meditation and inspiration (Tsang). On the official website for the Defenders of Wildlife, it states that we shouldnt industrialize a natural treasure (Arctic National). It also states that if drilling became imminent that destroy the coastal plain of the Beaufort Sea, the most tender area of the entire refuge.They believe in preserving the national wildlifes habitat, instead of tampering with an arctic, subarctic and boreal ecosystem (Wildlife Impacts). According to the ANWR official website, atomic number 57 can be greatly affected by drilling in ANWR. It would create approximately 14,800 jobs in module and facility construction, exploration, and production engineering. It also states that Lo uisiana has already been greatly affected by Prudhoe Bay. Since 1980, Louisiana has spent almost $400 million in Prudhoe Bay. Also, over 850 Louisiana vendors are doing duty in Alaskan oil fields.An example is the Prudhoe Bay gas involution module GHX-2, produced in New Iberia, in 1994 (What Development). Drilling in ANWR could greatly benefit the United States. It could boost the economy, decrease foreign oil trade, lower oil prices worldwide and create about 750,000 jobs, throughout the United States. On the other hand it could ruin ecosystems and tamper with wildlifes habitats, for a less than significant amount of oil. Either way a decision has to be made. Prudhoe Bay is steadily declining. The question is whether the government wants to ontinue paying the high price of foreign imports or drill at ANWR and potentially ruin breakable and ecologically sensitive ecosystems.Works Cited Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Defenders. org. 2008. Defenders of Wildlife. 19 Oct. 2008. . Making the Case for ANWR. ANWR. org 2008. Frontier Communications. 19 Oct. 2008. &lt http//www. anwr. org/Background/Making-the-Case-for-ANWR. php&gt. Top Ten Reasons to Support ANWR Development. ANWR. org 2008. Frontier Communications. 19 Oct. 2008. &lt http//www. anwr. rg/ANWR-Basics/Top-ten-reasons-to-support-ANWR-development. php&gt. Tsang, Clara. Arguments Against Drilling in ANWR. 19 Oct. 2008. . What Development of Alaskas Arctic Coastal Plain actor to Louisiana. ANWR. org 2008. Frontier Communications. 19 Oct. 2008. . What is ANWR and Where is it? ANWR. org 2008. Frontier Communications. 19 Oct. 2008. &lt http//www. anwr. org/ANWR-Basics/What-is-ANWR-and-where-is-it. php&gt. Wildlife Impacts from fossil oil Drilling in the Refuge. Defenders. org. 2008. Defenders of Wildlife. 19 Oct. 2008. .