17 March 2005 The Independent
Supporters of a plan to drill for oil in an Arctic wildlife reserve won an important victory in the US Senate yesterday, bringing the hugely controversial scheme a step closer to reality.
Campaigners opposed to the plan to drill for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) had hoped to remove the proposal from a large budget package now passing through Congress.
But by a margin of just 51-49, senators voted to retain a plan that Republican supporters believe will help reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil. "This is an opportunity for us to protect our energy security, our economic security and our environmental security," Liza Murkowski, a Republican senator, said.
Oil companies have wanted to drill for oil in northern Alaska for the past 30 years, despite widespread concern about the potential for environmental damage and the effect on wildlife. Amid increasing concern about dwindling worldwide oil supplies and the near-record cost of fuel, Republicans have used their dominance in Washington to push the plan forward. A vote to go ahead would be an important victory for President George Bush, whose energy policy includes a proposal to open up ANWR for drilling.
How much oil ANWR would produce and the effect this would have on US dependence on foreign supplies is hotly contested. Last year a report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that ANWR could produce six billion barrels of oil that are economically recoverable. It also estimated that leases in the refuge would generate $5bn over a decade, with proceeds split between the federal government and the state of Alaska.
Opponents say while this sounds like a great deal of oil, it only represents a tiny fraction of the amount consumed by the US, now 20 million barrels a day. They say those same CBO figures suggest that the oil will not be available until the year 2025 and that the additional supply would only reduce the amount of foreign oil imported to the US from 68 per cent of the total to 65.
"It's bad news. They have voted for big oil rather than for the majority of Americans who are opposed to this," said Karen Wayland, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defence Council, an environmental pressure group. "Congress is a step closer to giving away the Arctic for a few drops of oil."
She said a recent poll suggested 53 per cent of Americans were opposed to drilling in ANWR while only 35 per cent supported the move. Furthermore, 73 per cent thought the issue too important to be attached to a budget package.
The 19 million acre refuge is home to 45 types of land and marine mammals, including the bowhead whale, polar and grizzly bears and moose. ANWR's coastal plain is used by caribou in the summer months and polar bears in the autumn.
Some 180 species of birds have been observed in the refuge, which was set aside by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960, a year after Alaska achieved statehood. In 1980 Congress said the refuge's 1.5 million-acre coastal plain could be opened to oil development if such a move was specifically authorised.
The Senate is expected to vote on its budget bill later this week. The House of Representatives, which has approved drilling in the refuge in the past, would still have to adopt the Senate's drilling language when lawmakers from both chambers negotiate a final budget bill.
