Say the phrase “drill ANWR” to an environmentalist; the reaction can be equated to having spoken the most vile four- letter word while inside the Mormon Tabernacle. The United States House of Representatives may soon cause another tirade to erupt from Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. For the sake of our country let us hope that each chamber of Congress takes a roll call vote on ANWR and that the vote tallies leave the Greens red with rage.     

A vote to permit exploration and development of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is scheduled before Memorial Day. Those who claim a sincere interest in lessening America’s dependence on foreign energy sources have a vested interest in a victory. The well-funded Green Lobby continually opposes ANWR drilling although such drilling would be a sensible measure to help alleviate our energy needs in the medium-term. The Green Lobby’s preferred solutions ? solar energy, hydrogen cars ? are alternatives that can only be feasible in the long-term.   

Governor Frank Murkowski (R-AK) recalled in a recent commentary published by THE SEATTLE TIMES that Alaska’s North Slope once averaged two million barrels of oil a day, representing more than half the oil used on the West Coast. Now that average daily output has declined to 900,000 barrels. 

Guess who now makes up the difference?

It’s OPEC and other foreign oil producers. 

The Department of Energy Information Administration lists several regimes that already or potentially are hostile to the United States. Ranking among the top importers of crude oil to the United States in February: Saudi Arabia (1.418 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.178 million barrels per day), Brazil (0.164 million barrels per day). Mexico (1.774 million barrels per day), the leading importer, can be considered “friendly” now but there is no guarantee that will be the case after its elections this summer. 

At a recent hearing, Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, made clear how short-sightedness has crippled America’s energy security: 

“At over $70 a barrel, the price of crude oil is nearly four times the spot price on the day back in 1995, 11 years ago, when then-President Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR. They say there are no short-term fixes, I would agree with that, but if we had authorized drilling in ANWR 10 years ago, crude oil prices would not be, in my opinion, over $70-a-barrel today.”

It is unfortunate, thanks to a veto by President William J. Clinton, that an important source of energy is not available now when it truly is needed. What should be done? One task is to dispel the myths manufactured by the Green Lobby media machine.       

Environmentalists use the shorthand phrase “ANWR” to suggest the entire 19.5 million acre refuge will be developed for energy. Actually the area at issue covers only 1.5 million acres and it is termed the “10-02 Area” in reference to the section of the 1980 legislation expanding ANWR — the Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act ? which designated land for “oil and gas exploration.” Only 2,000 acres of the 10-02 Area are to be used for the permanent infrastructure — the pipelines, oil wells, etc.    The10-02 Area is neither a refuge nor wilderness and definitely not scenic despite constant claims to the contrary by the Green Lobby.

The United States Geological Survey has estimated ANWR holds a mean estimate of 10.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil. This would be the equivalent of a “Prudhoe Bay II.” Murkowski, testifying on behalf of the National Governors Association on February 10, 2005, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee:

“The Coastal Plain of ANWR has been determined to be the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America, the only area with the potential to discover an ‘elephant’ field like Prudhoe Bay. . . . Oil from ANWR represents a secure domestic supply, which could help fulfill US oil demand for twenty-five years or more. Government studies suggest that the Coastal Plain could produce a ten year sustained rate of one million barrels per day.”    

Environmentalists underplay the availability of oil from ANWR. Development of ANWR, according to a letter signed by conservative leaders and sent to the House and Senate Leadership on March 8, 2006,  “would increase proven U.S. crude oil reserves by 50% and [it] is equivalent to approximately a quarter century of current imports from Saudi Arabia.”  

Getting Congress to pass ANWR involves a Catch 22. The House generally has supported ANWR on a stand-alone vote but generally shuns it when it is folded into a budget resolution. The Senate has not supported ANWR on stand-alone votes but will pass it as part of the budget.

ANWR supporters are pleased this stand-alone vote will be held even though it remains to be seen if the Senate will take action. Why? With fuel prices at record highs it will be useful for Americans to know which of their elected representatives want to provide some much-needed relief. 

Environmentalists wield clout in both parties, particularly within the Minority Party Caucus. Some Members realize the importance of ANWR as a source of energy. When the House passed the Energy Act of 2005 last spring, which included ANWR, over 40 Democrats bucked the Green Lobby to vote affirmatively. The pressure will be unrelenting. The Sierra Club and Greenpeace, motivated by preservationist policies, will continue arm-twisting Congress to prevent ANWR development.

The Senate is an even tougher arena for ANWR legislation. Obtaining a roll call vote with prices so high still has value. Americans will be able to tell which Senators really want to develop energy sources that represent a true “alternative” to Saudi and Venezuelan oil versus those who only talk the talk.     

Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and Energy Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues that if the Federal Government would allow development of offshore and onshore areas, including ANWR, America could increase our energy supply and lessen our dependence upon foreign sources. Ebell wrote recently on HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE: “Within a few years, an additional million barrels a day could be flowing to West Coast refineries.  And if President Clinton hadn’t vetoed ANWR legislation in 1995, that oil would be flowing today.”  ANWR’s development can help to lessen our dependence on foreign oil; so also would the careful opening of other protected onshore and offshore sites.

It’s ironic that the Green Lobby, so quick and vociferous to protest ANWR, has been relatively mute so far in protesting the proposed offshore drilling by Red China off the Cuban Coast. Why is it the Greens avoid discussing the terrible environmental record amassed by Communist countries? It’s worth noting that terrible record has been compounded by Communist failure to provide to their citizens freedom of speech and the right to petition their legislatures. Certainly, the Green Lobby is free to exercise its First Amendment rights in opposition to drilling but let us see if the Greens are willing to discover how dismissive true Communist dictatorships will be to their concerns. 

ANWR can mirror the experience with Prudhoe Bay. Dire predictions of environmental disaster advanced by the Green Lobby never came true. Governor Murkowski told the House Energy and Commerce Committee last year that the previous experience of drilling on the North Slope should assuage the worries of disaster resurrected by the Greens. He noted:

“Oil development is compatible with the protection of wildlife and their habitat. . . . North Slope caribou herds have remained healthy throughout previous oil development. In fact, the Central Arctic caribou herd, which is located in and around Prudhoe Bay, has increased 10 fold in the last 20 years.”

It’s time ordinary Americans start playing hardball with politicians who, through their voting record on issues such as ANWR, effectively sabotage our energy security. If not for the Clinton veto of legislation to open ANWR for exploration we would now be reaping the benefits. 

Instead our reliance on overseas oil imports remains dangerously high. ANWR is not a total solution to our long-term energy needs but it has an important role in helping us surmount medium-term needs before new alternative energies or harder-to-harvest sources of oil become available. 

Getting serious about meeting the energy needs of the United States means getting serious about using the resources of our country. That means developing ANWR. Delaying the use of ANWR means endangering our country’s energy security, thereby imperiling our economic security. The sooner politicians understand the American people are wising up to the failure of Congress to develop available sources of domestic oil and gas the better.

 

Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.

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