ANWR drilling is a contentious subject often debated during elections and in political circles. To understand the debate the overall issue of ANWR drilling, the impacts of drilling there must be understood.

ANWR is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  It’s a little more than 19 million acres in the North Slope in Alaska. The area became a federal protected area in 1960. Since then more land has been added. Part of the purpose for protecting the area is to protect the resources there. That seems a bit odd since while protected the resources can’t be exploited. Why protect resources that can never be used?

When conversationalists lost the battle to block the Alaskan pipeline they turned their attention to stopping ANWR drilling. Their hope was to preserve areas that hadn’t been spoiled, in their opinion, by the pipeline. This happened in 1976. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter signed into law an act that created over 104 million acres of national parks in Alaska.  It allowed drilling in ANWR but only with congressional approval. That sparked a battle from both sides. One wanted to remove the drilling possibility.  The other wanted to cut down the amount of protected land.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service recommended opening ANWR drilling in November of 1986. It proposed a trade of ANWR land for land owned by Eskimo tribes to accomplish this. Environmentalists stepped in with concerns about the movement of caribou. Canada and the US agreed that Canada would be consulted before any drilling took place, which ended discussion of the proposed land swap.

There continues to be an argument over drilling in ANWR. Those for it say the oil and natural gas are needed. Not only will it create a larger world supply, but it would help America drastically decrease the oil imported from foreign sources. Most of the oil the US imports, however, comes from relatively stable areas such as Russia.

Those against ANWR drilling continue to point to environmental concerns. These are the same types of groups that block the use of salt to melt snow on Oregon roads in the winter. The result is a drastic increase in the number of accidents and human lives lost. But the plants around the roads can thrive in the salt free soil.

ANWR drilling will continue to be a major discussion. Even if drilling begins, people will try to stop it and the cycle will continue.