A Congressional Trip To ANWR

Ben Lieberman / July 24, 2008

A picture is worth a thousand words – or in this case ten billion barrels.

A group of ten House Republicans just did something few ecotourists have ever done – they visited Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and saw first-hand the 2,000 or so acres of the 19.6 million acre refuge believed to lie on top of America’s single largest untapped source of oil.

Anti-drilling activists have characterized this area as an environmental jewel, but the pictures of this expedition show a bleak, flat, nearly treeless expanse of no aesthetic and minimal ecological value. Little wonder the place gets almost no tourists. Granted, Alaska has some of the nation’s most stunning scenery – but not anywhere near the areas that would be disturbed by drilling for ANWR’s estimated 10 billion barrels. In fact, even if this portion of ANWR were opened to drilling, the state would still have 140 million acres that are fully protected – an area equal to the entire states of California and New York combined. (more…)