The idea has been toyed with for years, drilling in the arctic. Land that has been set aside for over 40 years, has recently reemerged for the long lasting debate of whether or not drilling in the arctic will solve our soaring gas prices. Drilling in the arctic would create up to 330,000 jobs, but at the same it would be destroying an already delicate ecosystem.
You don't need to read this to know the animals who live in the refuge would be at serious danger. The porcupine caribou is among the largest herds in North America. In 2001 the herd size was estimated to be 129,000 caribou. The caribou are highly sensitive, and potential disturbance in their habitat would result in a major disturbance to the herd.
While only a certain portion of the land would be used for drilling, how could they limit the amount of roads that would have to be built? What about the thousands of employees, and their housing? Docks would need to be built as well, landfills, water reservoirs, and many other structures that would be damaging to the ecosystem.
At $24 a barrel there is 95% chance of finding 1.9 billion barrels of of oil, a 50 percent chance there were 5.3 billion barrels, and a 5 percent chance of finding 9.4 billion barrels. At $24 a barrel there was a 24 percent chance that the oil would only fulfill America's need for nine months.
The U.S. Department of Energy's estimates that in twenty years, when the oil production is at peak, gas prices will only be affected by about a penny per gallon. By 2015 that would only make up .06% of the worlds oil production, and even at the peak production in 2025 of the oil it only make up .08% of the worlds oil. The oil prices are set by the world market, and the demand for oil at that moment in time, so drilling in the arctic would have the slightest impact on America's prices.
Drilling in the arctic
By Zimmermann - Posted on June 25th, 2008
Drilling in the arctic would be a disaster, but it's funny listening to the arguments that the congresspeople of Alaska use to try and convince the people. My favorite is: the caribou would benefit from the warmth produced by the machines!
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I love that one too, especially since they're one of the more delicate animals. I love no matter how many times it get's turned down in Congress it gets brought back a 5-10 years later.
I remember the controversy surrounding the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline and its effect on caribou. The environmentalists predicted dire consequences much like the ones in this blog. The reality was quite different.
Here is an excerpt from the following link:
Bye-bye Caribou?: Many people suddenly developed a “passionate concern for the mating habits of Alaska caribou and campaign noisily against intrusion of Arctic pipelines into this essential activity,” reported The Christian Science Monitor on Oct. 10, 1972. The New York Times on Oct. 14, 1973, said the question is “whether the caribou will go the way of the buffalo.”
Reality: Thirty years later we can see the effects of the pipeline on the caribou. Walter Hickel, a former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and governor of Alaska, said that the caribou herd “has not only survived, but flourished. In 1977, as the Prudhoe region started delivering oil to America's southern 48 states, the Central Arctic caribou herd numbered 6,000; it has since grown to 27,128.” Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game Web site reports that “in general, caribou have not been adversely affected by human activities in Alaska.” Pipelines and other manmade objects have been built to accommodate caribou movements, and the animals have adapted to people and machines.
Alaska Pipeline Doomsayings Revisited
It tuns out the environmentalist fear mongering was wrong.
Caribou are not particularly sensitive to human activitiy. They are the only member of the deer family that has been domesticated. The domestic variety are called reindeer. Genetically they are identical to the wild variety.