Heritage Foundation’s Nick Loris, whose work focuses on energy policy, weighed in earlier this week:
The Obama administration is calling on Congress to designate more than 12 million acres in Alaska as wilderness, including the coastal plain, barring economic activity and energy development.
If Congress chose to act, it would be the largest wilderness designation since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law more than a half century ago. In making the announcement Interior Secretary Sally Jewel remarked, “Just like Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of our nation’s crown jewels and we have an obligation to preserve this spectacular place for generations to come.”
Huh? …
The Arctic National Wildlife Reuge is a much different story. Slightly more than one thousand people visit the 19.6 million acres refuge each year.
And ANWR boasts massive energy potential. According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, an estimated 15-42 billion barrels of oil lie in ANWR’s 1002 Area, the Coastal Plain. The entire 1002 area represents 1.5 million acres out of more than 19.6 million. The Survey produced these estimations in 1998, where they said producers could extract 10.4 billion barrels–using 1990s drilling technologies–that lie beneath a few thousand acres with minimal environmental impact.
Seventeen years later, the technologies have vastly improved. By opening ANWR we could truly find out Alaska’s energy potential. Importantly, the U.S. Geologic Survey also notes that “nearly 80 percent of the oil is thought to occur in the western part of the ANWR 1002 area, which is closest to existing infrastructure.” Oil produced in ANWR could relieve potential technological challenges Trans Alaska Pipeline System faces if the supply becomes too low.
While Alaska is home to many pristine areas, the 1002 Area is not one of them. The Department of Interior highlights that ANWR’s 1002 Area contains has no trees, deep water lakes or mountain peaks. Winters can get down to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit and the area experiences 56 days without sunlight. That doesn’t quite sound like the place you had in mind when you want to pack up the family for an RV trip.
