Most Alaskans support oil exploration at refuge
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald
June 20, 2001
By GEORGE WUERCH
ANCHORAGE -- Ask Alaskans what they like best about their state, and the response you'll hear most often will include something about Alaska's environment. Whether it's our great outdoors, abundant fish and wildlife, pristine air and water, or majestic scenery, Alaskans will identify their state's environment as being one of the chief reasons they love living here.
Now ask them if they support Congress's opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Three out of four are likely
to respond: Absolutely.
These po- sitions are not inconsistent. Alaskans know that development can be compatible with environmental conservation. We understand and demand environmentally responsible development.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Alaskans care about protecting the state's wilderness more strongly than do all those environmental interest groups that have adopted Alaska as their poster child for fund-raising campaigns.
Yet we support oil development because we know what to expect from oil-production activities. For almost half a century, oil and natural gas have been produced in the wildlife range south of Anchorage and in the Cook Inlet off our city's shore. For the past 25 years, between one million and two million barrels of oil a day have been produced on Alaska's North Slope. This production accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the nation's total domestic-oil supply.
There has been no adverse impact on Alaska's environment from all this oil-development activity. Moose and other wildlife continue to thrive on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. World record-size king salmon continue to swim through the Cook Inlet on their way out to sea or returning to their rivers to spawn. And the caribou herd that grazes on the tundra surrounding the North Slope oil fields has multiplied to more than 27,000 from 3,000 since production began in 1977.
Yes, there was a horrible tanker accident in 1989 that caused a great deal of damage to marine and bird species of Prince William Sound, along with damage to the habitat of the region. Indeed, it took years for the area to recover. Keep in mind, though, that this was a marine-transportation accident -- not related to oil production. It is ironic that those who oppose development of petroleum resources in Alaska would require instead that our nation depend even more heavily on foreign imports, which means more and more foreign tankers navigating off the nation's shores.
CONCERNED ESKIMO
Inupiat Eskimo, the only Native people living in the ANWR coastal plain, oppose congressional action to bar oil exploration. They recognize that ANWR development would bring improvements to their quality of life.
The mayor of Kaktovik, Lon Sonsalla, recently wrote Sen. Joseph Lieberman: ``We note with grave concern the bill you have introduced, designating as wilderness the homelands of the Kaktovikmiut (Inupiat Eskimo). We consider this action to be extremely dangerous to the continued survival of our people.''
His concern was echoed at a recent conference of the National Association of Counties by Mayor Ben Nageak of the North Slope Borough, which encompasses both Prudhoe Bay and ANWR. Nageak corrected a misrepresentation of Native views being spread by national anti-development interests.
Nageak said that it was true that after oil had been discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, his people had concern about what would happen to their environment. ``Our elders were fearful that our culture would not survive if the land on which we subsisted was spoiled,'' he said.
UNFOUNDED FEARS
Those fears turned out to be unfounded, he said. ``Today, the oil industry is no longer seen as an adversary by the Inupiat people. This land and its wildlife are our sacred cultural trust. But we also believe it was given to us to use to provide for our families and future. Safe oil exploration and development is one of those uses.''
We are confident that given the industry's stellar record in Alaska, along with today's technology and strict federal and state environmental protections, oil development on the coastal plain will be safe. It's also necessary. After 25 years of production, oil from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay is now on the decline. Opening ANWR will permit Alaska to continue its role as a supplier of safe, reliable energy to meet the na- tion's needs. Opening ANWR merits the nation's support.
George Wuerch is mayor of Anchorage, Alaska.