Alaskan Oil Research Paper

Jake Kendrick
Motlow English 1020
Mrs. Lockhart
21 March 2011
Three Reasons Why the Government Should Prevent Oil Companies from Drilling In Alaska
With the rise in oil costs, American companies have been searching for closer, cheaper oil to ease their reliance on foreign oil companies. Recently, large deposits of oil have been located in Alaska. American companies would like to drill for the oil but cannot due to the fact that it lies on a protected area of land known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Issit and Morley). Although opponents believe that drilling for oil in Alaska would lower fuel costs in our country, Americans must protest drilling because drilling destroys the habitat, eliminates a possible back up supply of fuel, and will only shortly prolong the fuel problem.
One extremely important reason why oil companies shouldn’t be allowed to drill in Alaska is the fact that wildlife will be harmed in the process. For the oil to be extracted, several hundred acres of forest will be destroyed to make way for all the machinery and roads required for such a task. Areas inhabited by caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, and several other species would be seriously harmed by this process (Svitil). These harmful additions to the environment would greatly diminish these animal populations and possibly cause them to become extinct. In 2005, numerous long-term studies were performed and showed that drilling for oil in Alaska would absolutely have adverse effects on the regional ecology. President Bush received over 1000 letters from scientists that all verified these results (Issit and Morley). Several government leaders like former Vice President Al Gore are against this drilling. He once accused some political leaders of   trying to “misuse high oil prices as an excuse to let the oil companies invade precious national treasures like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,’’ and stated that he would use his power to prevent that from happening (“Bush”).
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