Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: To Drill Or Not To Drill Essay Samples

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or ANWR is a 19-million acre land along the northeastern part of Alaska. Part of its coastal plains, 1.5 million acres to be exact, is being considered as an onshore oil prospect by many developers.
There are existing laws that denies development on ANWR. But as a result of economic issues, specifically those that affect oil supply, H.R. 3407 was presented as a way to open ANWR for oil and natural gas leasing. The only question is whether to drill or not and if so, to what extent (Corn, Ratner, & Alexander, 2012).
Restraints have always been the cause of resourcefulness. Development advocates argue that opening ANWR to development would at least severe the tie between the energy markets of US from Middle East economic crises which would later on lead to a decrease in oil prices and an increase in available jobs as well as causing minimal environmental harm. On the other hand, wilderness advocates argue that ecosystems should never be scarred and development will be scattered throughout the area leading to irreparable impacts especially the ecology and environmental aspect of the area (Corn, Ratner, & Alexander, 2012).
On this note, the ANWR should not be subjected to development. The argument of development advocates about pursuing ANWR because of economic instabilities cannot be used as a justification. Economies are unstable which means prices of commodities are fluctuating as well. There might come a time wherein the price of oil from ANWR is higher than imported oil. Moreover, if the development on ANWR fails, it would result to a total loss. This loss is not only of financial resources but a greater loss on the ANWR’s protected wildlife and ecosystem. And lastly, what the development advocates lack, is assurance. As of now, development advocates claim that ANWR is a great potential oil reserve but there is no assurance that this oil reserve could last long enough such that the positive effects of the development of ANWR can be truly felt and witnessed and therefore be justified.

Reference:

Corn, M. L., Ratner, M., & Alexander, K. (2012). Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): A Primer for the 112th Congress. Congressional Research Service.