'Titanic battle' brewing over drilling in Alaska

Caribou are thriving in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is also one of the biggest oil fields in North America

February 26, 2001
Web posted at: 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT)

By Natalie Pawelski
CNN Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "A Titanic battle" is expected over Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to Sen. Frank Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska who planned to unveil a bill Monday to allow oil drilling in the pristine preserve.

Oil companies have long wanted to drill in the Arctic Refuge and conservationists have been just as determined to keep them out.

With President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, both former oil industry executives, in the White House and energy issues on the front page, Murkowski proposes opening the refuge for oil exploration.

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Arctic oil drilling

Former President Jimmy Carter said this is the same kind of decision he faced during his time in office when the Alaska Lands Bill was passed in 1980.

"The legislation introduced by Sen. Murkowski not only opens up this precious and so far unspoiled area of Alaska, but also destroys, to a great degree, the protection that has been built into other legislations concerning air pollution, water pollution and other things," Carter said.

Nobody's sure exactly how much oil is under the refuge. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that, at current oil prices, about six billion barrels would be worth pumping out. That's roughly enough to supply all U.S. oil needs for about 11 months.

"That's where the oil is. It's the best place to look for oil in the United States and there's predicted to be more oil there than any other place that we can look for oil in the U.S.," said Mark Rubin of the American Petroleum Institute, an oil-industry trade group.

Home to bears, birds and oxen

Conservationists call the refuge "America's Serengeti," a reference to the giant wildlife preserve in Africa. The section targeted for drilling houses caribou calving grounds and habitat for polar bears, musk oxen and migratory birds.

"Oil development in the arctic wildlife refuge makes as much sense as chopping down the giant redwoods for firewood," said Jim Walton of the Wilderness Society.

Congress set up the giant Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, about the size of South Carolina, in 1980. It left the door open to oil drilling on about eight percent of the refuge, along the coastal plain, but it would take an act of Congress for the drilling to start.

That's where Murkowski's bill comes in. Called the National Energy Security Act of 2001, its goal is to reduce U.S. dependence on overseas oil to 50 percent by the year 2010. The United States currently imports more than 55 percent of its oil.

The bill aims to boost domestic production of oil and natural gas through tax breaks and other incentives. It also encourages electric generation from coal-fired, nuclear and hydroelectric sources, while aiming to boost renewable energy sources, including wind and solar power and alternative-fueled vehicles.

But the most controversial provision is one that would allow the pumping of oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat, is threatening a filibuster and several moderate Republicans have said they won't support opening the refuge to drilling.

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
American Petroleum Institute
Sierra Club
U.S. Department of the Interior

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