Saturday, December 24, 2005

ANWR... Let's Start Drilling !!! and why...

The issue of drilling in the Alaska Natural Wildlife Reserve has come to light again with the recent rise in energy prices. Back in August 2001 Jonah Goldberg did a great article in the National Review about what actually goes on in ANWR regarding oil drilling and the wildlife. I also refer to several newspaper articles here that appeared in USA Today and Investors Business Daily....

Just last week the House of Representatives approved a drilling project in ANWR by a vote of 308 to 106...
Unfortunately it was not able to get past the Senate due to the fillibuster that the Democrats have become so friendly with. We will talk about fillibusters that have to get more then 60% to break. Majority means nothing to these Senators and this must be addressed also...

What is ANWR actually like? The area that Environmentalist love to call "Pristine"



  • ANWR is actually 19.6 million acres, about the size of South Carolina...
  • The oil industry wants to dril in an area of only 2,000 acres, about the size of Dulles airport...
  • When Winter comes, there is no sunlight for 56 straight days...
  • During this dark period temperature averages 70 below zero, not counting the wind chill factor, or Global Warming...
  • During Summertime, locals warn of the mosquitos which are "The size of Bluejays"...
  • Many fear damage to the Caribou herd. Since drilling started in Prudhoe Bay, the Caribou herd has increased from 3,000 in 1977 to a current level of 23,000+...

What do the politicians say?

  • "I don't believe we can drill our way to energy independence" Sen. Diane Feinstein
  • Go to Barbara Boxer -D wbsite and you will find a link to fill out a petition to the executives of many of the major oil companies threatening a Boycoott of their companies if they drill in ANWR...
  • There is only a few years worth of oil there and it would not be worth drilling in ANWR...

What do the Scientist and Engineers say?

  • Since 1977, Prudhow Bay has produced 13 billion barrels of oil with an estimated 3 billion barrels left. (a moving target as oil recovery technology improves)
  • ANWR contains at least 5.6 billion barrels of oil and possibly 16 billion barrels accordingly to a 1988 U.S. Geological survey...
  • ANWR would supply enough oil for Florida for 29 years, or New York for 34 years, or California for 16 years, or New Hampshire for 315 years...
  • Out of the 19.6 million acres of ANWR only an area of 2,000 acres is being looked at for exploration. With new drilling technology a single well can drill numerous wells streatching in different directions from the same platform. "If the Washington monument were an absurdly tall directional oil well, it could extract oil from underneath Bethesda suburbs, Arlington National Cemetary, and the Capitol dome"...
  • In order to avoid roadwork on the precious tundra, the oil companies build immense ice roads that can bear massive stresses, but still melt harmlessly during the Summer when there is no drilling operation...
  • Presently the environmental requirements at Prudhoe Bay require any trash or man made items must be removed from the area. "If you spill your coffee on the ice you better go get a shovel"...
  • "I know a guy who got fired for throwing a rock at a fox". Apparently almost all of the foxes are rabid. "If you get bitten by a fox with inactive rabies you get those infamous shots. If you get bitten by a fos with active rabies, the company pays for your funeral".
  • Consider this:
    Exxon-Mobil announced a $12 billion energy investment in Qatar, equivalent to about 360,000 barrels of oil per day. The next day, Shell announced a $5 billion deal with Qatar to convert natural gas to clean-burning diesel, at about 140,000 barrels of oil per day.That energy is equal to one-half of the energy we would get daily from ANWR.
    In just two days, $17 billion in investments went overseas. This money should have been invested in the United States.
    Want American Jobs? Open ANWR.