Essay - For Some Years, Congress as Well as Those Interested in...

For some years, Congress as well as those interested in both the energy industry and the preservation of wild areas in ***** United States have argued whether drilling sites in Alaska should be expanded. One area ***** debate has been the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.

The Heritage Foundation has ***** in favor of expanded ***** *****to the *****. They argue that much ***** Alaska remains untouched, with large *****s of intact ecosystems on private land owned by the Alaska Nati*****al Interest (Shanahan, 1995).

Those opposed to the expansion of oil drilling into this area say make multiple arguments: that Native American cultures, in particular the Inupiat Eskimos, will be negatively affected; ***** it is uneconomical to attempt to retrieve the oil conta*****ed in the disputed area, and that the ecosystems are important and would inevitably ***** harmed.

In ***** year 2000, The U.S. Fish ***** ***** Service examined the cost ***** retrieving oil from the ***** area. Their detailed analysis showed ***** difficulties involved in retriev*****g the oil make the task uneconomical. They concluded that there was a 50% chance of retrieving 19 million barrels ***** oil per day, but ***** cost would be $24 per barrel, making the project economically unfeasible (USFWS, *****). There was still ***** *****% chance that costs ***** rise above $*****/*****. The market price for ***** at ***** time was $25 - $35/barrel, making the proposed drilling a risky fin*****ncial venture.

***** United ***** government wants the country to be as self*****sufficient as possible for energy needs. It is national law and policy, however, to protect the environment from harm caused by industrialization.

The Inupiat Eskimos have looked at the issue of drilling for oil in *****. Jacob Adams (*****), speaking for natives in the *****, described how his native culture ***** relied for millennia on the natural resources ***** the area, *****cluding hunting bowhead whale ***** caribou, fishing from streams and rivers, ***** gathering wild berries in the summer. Their way of life and culture is completely interwoven into their relationship ***** the ***** in which ********** live. He described how his tribe has blended modern realities with their way of life, making profits ***** shareholders while living off of the *****. Adams argues for carefully regulated expansion of oil drilling ***** ***** economic benefits it will bring to the local *****s.

*****, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife ***** believes that further gas and oil exploration cannot be done without seriously damaging the environment. ***** view the area as pristine, and state ***** development would reduce its value for scientific study by interfering with ***** area's natural evolution and damage "the biological ***** ecological integrity of ***** entire Refuge" (*****FWS, 2000).

They note several re*****ons ***** believing the risk of substantial ecological damage is high. First, they cite the high demand for fresh water in such an endeavor. Unlike the Prudhoe Bay area, the area targeted for development (called "Area 1002") has limited fresh water resources (USFWS, 2000). Because construction bases