Artic oil
I am writing in response to the environmentalist on the subject of drilling for oil in Alaska's Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Their argument is that if we open up ANWR to the oil drilling companies there would be no end. They think if we open up these conservation areas then others could eventually have the same fate. They want to leave this beautiful 1.5 million acre tundra untouched by man and pass on the legacy of preserving America's natural wildlife refuges to the next generation. I don't disagree with everything that they are stating. I have done some research through the U.S.G.S. and various other sources. I have found that the amount of oil that could be economically recovered is estimated at 16 billion barrels of oil and would take approximately 10 years to reach the market. The anti-drilling activist will tell you this, but what they won't tell you are the benefits of drilling for oil in ANWR.
Allowing companies to drill in Alaska's Northern Slope would boost the revenues of American oil companies that would like to explore the area for petroleum. Expansion of the oil industry in the Northern Slope would also create thousands of jobs and decrease U.S. dependency on oil imports from Middle Eastern countries. This will in turn help to lower the increasing gasoline prices for the American public. As the United States' dependency on petroleum imports rises the oil fields in Alaska are quickly becoming much more significant. Successful drilling in Alaska's Northern Slope would also bring in enormous amounts of revenue to federal, state, and local governments.
How the question regarding should we drill in the northern slopes is answered depends on who answers it. Most people agree that the oil ban does keep oil prices ...