July, 1998
On August 6 Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit announced the controversial decision to authorize oil and gas drilling leases in 4 million acres of Alaska’s arctic coast. This area is part of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), identified in 1923 as a reserve for possible development in times of national need. At the same time, Babbit denied leases in the wetland-rich Teshekpuk Lake area of the NPR-A, arguing that the “biological wonderland” should be protected.
The NPR-A occupies a region of arctic coastline adjacent to Prudhoe Bay, the principal source of the state’s oil wealth for over twenty years. The coastal tundra, with thousands of wetlands and small lakes, provides breeding grounds for 5 million migratory birds, representing 90 species, including swans, snow geese, arctic loons, and many arctic coastal ducks. The inland region of the NPR-A is home to Alaska’s largest caribou herd, the 450,000-member Western Arctic herd, as well as grizzly bears and wolves. Environmentalists have advocated legal protection for the entire reserve, but some have been willing to consider oil development in a portion of the reserve in exchange for protecting the rest of the region. Development in the NPR-A is hoped to ease pressure to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development, a proposal that was recently blocked by President Clinton.
Arctic caribou herds are among the wildlife that could be threatened by drilling in the coastal oil reserve. Interior Secretary Babbit did deny drilling leases on the most fragile coastal wetlands. |
The compromise decision followed an 18-month environmental review and comment period, during which Alaska’s governor and congressional delegation joined oil companies in urging the NPR-A’s opening. The state is eager to see oil development in the region because the Alaskan economy depends heavily on oil revenue, and wells in the neighboring Prudhoe Bay area are beginning to run dry after two decades of pumping.
Wetland Area Off-limits
Environmental groups, including the Northern Alaska Environmental Center
in Fairbanks and the Wilderness Society, decry any leasing, especially
now, when oil prices are at all-time lows, supplies are high, and there
is no current national need for further oil. In fact oil companies have
recently begun exporting Prudhoe Bay oil to Asia--a step that was strictly
denied under the region’s initial development rules, which stressed the
need to preserve domestic energy security.
At the same time, denying leases in the Teshekpuk Lake area is an important protective measure. Not only are wetlands and lakes irreplaceable breeding grounds, they are also especially susceptible to pollution related to oil development, including leaks in wastewater and chemical storage, in oil pumping, and in pipeline spills and leaks. The oil industry, on the other hand, was disappointed by the August decision to deny leases in the coastal wetland area. The coastal plain is believed the most likely to yield significant amounts of oil.
Exploratory drilling could begin this winter.
To read more, see
Environmental Science, A Global Concern,
Cunningham and Saigo, 5th ed.
US oil supplies and imports: pages 470-71
Proposals to drill in ANWR (the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge): pages 472-73
Ocean oil pollution: pages 449-50
Environmental Science, Enger and Smith,
6th ed.
Oil resources and reserves: page 145
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: page
166
For further information, see these related web sites:
Environmental Impact Statement information, Bureau of LandManagement
feedback form |
permissions |
international |
locate your campus rep |
request a review copy
Copyright ©2001 The McGraw-Hill Companies.
digital solutions |
publish with us |
customer service |
mhhe home
Any use is subject to the
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of the
The McGraw-Hill Companies.