Alaska, Oil, and Energy
April
2005
Ned
Hettinger
An Energy Crisis?
n
The Bush
Administration’s Energy Strategy Report stated:
"America
in the year 2001 faces the most serious energy shortage since the oil embargoes
of the 1970's.”
n
Gas prices today
(April 05) at $2.50
n
American imports
over half of its oil
n
Drilling for oil
in Alaska’s
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is supposed to be an important part of nation’s
response to this crisis
Questions explored
n
Is opening up the
Arctic Refuge a step in the right direction for U.S.
energy policy, for the State of Alaska,
and for the human and nonhuman communities involved?
n
What do Alaskans
think about drilling and why?
n
Can there be
environmentally-friendly drilling for oil in the Refuge?
n
Are there better
alternatives?
Alaska is
by far the largest state
n
About 1/5 size of entire U.S.
n
375 million acres
Alaska’s Wild Beauty
n
Alaska’s
size, remoteness, mountains, glaciers, and wildlife make it our country’s
wilderness treasure
Denali
Portage
Glacier
Crow Pass and Raven Glacier
History of Alaskan land and oil policy
n
Alaska
statehood in 1958
n
State received right to select 104 million acres
n
State’s rights were contingent on settling
Natives’ land claims
n
AK Natives claimed virtually all of AK’s 375
million acres as their own
Oil Discovery Led to Native Settlement
n
1968 oil discovered at Prudhoe
Bay
n
State wanted to build an 800 mile pipeline from
Prudhoe Bay to Valdez,
bisecting the state
n
Native Alaskans’ land claims made it impossible
to get the needed rights of way
Pict of AK
n
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1970
n
Natives got 44
million acres (12%) of AK
n
Included in ANCSA
was a provision to withdraw 80 million acres for conservation lands
Battle Over AK Pipeline
n
800 mile pipeline
bisecting America’s
last great wilderness wasn’t going to get build easily
n
Three
env. groups (FOE, EDF, WS)
and 5 Native Alaska villages sued
n
In 1973, Congress
resolved the suit by passing AK pipeline authorization act
n
Senate vote was
49 to 49, Nixon’s V.P. Spiro Agnew
casting the tie breaking vote
Pipeline
through AK range
Battle Over Alaska Conservation Lands
n
How much of Alaska would be set
aside in conservation areas?
n
ANSCA deal was 80
million acres
n
Mo Udall (Pres.
Carter’s Sec. of Interior) wanted 123 million acres with 60 million in
wilderness
n
AK Senator
Stevens wanted 60 million acres with 12 million wilderness
n
Stalemate until
Pres. Carter used Antiquities Act to set aside 154 million acres in National
Monuments
n
AK went berserk
1980 Compromise
n
Passage of the
Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act
n
President Carter
signed just as he left office.
n
104 million acres
of new conservation land in AK with 50 million of that wilderness
n
This was a
doubling of the total wilderness acreage in the U.S.
n
Carter has said
this was the most important conservation legislation of 20th century
1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
n
11 million
gallons
n
53rd
biggest “spill”
n
11,000 miles of
coastline oiled (470 direct miles; SC to DC)
n
Devastated Prince William Sound’s wildlife and human communities
n
Destroyed
subsistence way of life of local people?
n
Huge wildlife
losses (75% sea otters killed; loons still not recovered)
n
20% of crude oil
still was there 12 years later
Animals affected by Exxon Valdez Spill
22,000 carcasses of common murres found
13,000 marbled murrelets killed
Valdez
Terminal
Kenai oil tanker in Valdez
Columbia
glacier icebergs
Bligh Reef
Pipeline Club
n
Will it happen again?
Tanker tied to tug
History of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
n
Pres.
Eisenhower—in response to a campaign of Muries and
Supreme Court Justice William O Douglas set aside Refuge in 1960
n
19.8 million
acres in north east AK, bordering Canada (slightly larger SC)
n
17.5 permanently off limits to development (wilderness)
n
1.5 million acre
coastal plain (1002 area) Congress can open for oil/gas development
Special
Place?
n
Defenders unique
geography makes it a wildlife/wildland treasure
n
Brooks Range swings
to within 40 miles of coast, range of arctic ecosystems in a small area
n
Interior Sec.
Gale Norton has called it a
flat white nothingness
n
“A Godforsaken
mosquito-infested swamp shrouded in frozen darkness ½ year”
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service says
"The Arctic Refuge is among the most complete, pristine, and
undisturbed ecosystems on earth. Here coastal lagoons, barrier islands, arctic
tundra, foothills, mountains, and boreal forests provide a combination of
habitats, climate, and geography unmatched by any other northern conservation
area“
"This
unique compression of habitats concentrates the occurrence of a wide variety of
wildlife and fish species.... In fact, according to FWS, the Arctic Refuge
coastal plain contains the greatest wildlife diversity of any protected area
above the Arctic Circle."
Species in Refuge
• “The area's large mammals also include grizzly bears,
polar bears, Dall sheep, wolves, moose, and a herd of
rare muskoxen. 135 species of birds are known to use the 1002 area, including
large flocks of snow geese which feed on the area's nutritious vegetation in
the fall in preparation for their long flight to their wintering grounds in the
Central Valley of California. Other animal species of the area include shorebirds,
loons, songbirds, and raptors, as well as fish such as the Arctic char and
Arctic grayling.
Caribou in Denali
Arguments against ANWR drilling
n
95% of Alaska’s
Arctic Coastal plain is already open to oil drilling
n
Prudhoe
Bay’s poor env.
record: 400 oil
spills a year since 1996
u Large
amounts of air pollution
u Only
one EPA worker on North Slope
How much oil in ANWR?
n
USGS 1998:
3.2 to 6.3 billion barrels (7-13 month U.S. supply)
n
Proponents say 10-16 billion barrels (2-3 year
supply)
n
USGS says 5% chance of 16 billion
Conservation/Efficiency Alternative
n
Enhancing energy efficiency in buildings and
industry could easily save us as much oil
V.P. Dick Cheney
n
“Conservation may be a sign of personal
virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy
policy.”
Cheney on Conservation (continued)
n
To think that
“we could simply conserve or ration our way out” of the energy crisis is 1970's
era thinking.
n
Supports energy efficiency only when it does not reduce living
standards or negatively impact U.S.
industry.
n
Opposes any energy conservation measures based on the idea that
Americans now “live too well” or that people should “do more with less.”
Fuel
Economy Standards (CAFÉ)
n
Adopted in 1975,
average rose from 14 to 27mpg by mid 80s
n
No significance
increases in CAFÉ since
n
Because of the
popularity of SUVs (only required to average 20.7 mpg vs
27.5 for cars), in 2002 average U.S. fuel economy fell to its lowest level
since 1980
n
China has proposed more stringent rules
n
Raising CAFÉ from
27 to 40 mpg would save a billion barrels a year
Can there be Env. Friendly
Drilling in ANWR?
n
New drilling technologies cast doubt on the
claim that ANWR will be as devastated as Prudhoe Bay
n
Not clear that the Prudhoe Bay oilfields a
disaster for wildlife
New Drilling Technology
n
Small well pads
with drills branching out 4-5 miles underground
n
2000
acres of total disturbance out of 1.5 million acres?
n
Drilling mud,
contaminated water, spilled oil, and discarded chemicals formerly put in waste
pits can be ground into a slurry and pumped underground
n
Gravel roads
(mined from river beds) spread all over fragile tundra can now be built from
ice that melts in spring
n
The maze of oil
collecting pipelines can be raised for animals to duck under and elevated
elbows lessen effects of spills
Oil Pad
Ice Road
Caribou under pipeline
Bear on Pipeline
New Survey Techniques
n
The success rate raised
from 1 producing well for each 10 exploratory wells to 5 in 10.
n
Dynamite no longer used, but vibrating 10-ton
“thumper trucks” crisscross tundra in an intensive way leaving scars disrupting
wildlife
n
2000 acre figure doesn’t include this
Thumper Truck
Damage from Thumper Truck (in Utah)
1984 track from seismic exploration
Same track in 1999 (15 years later)
Critics Aren’t Impressed
n
“Once the work shifts from exploration to
extraction of oil, the result is always a sprawl of pipelines, roads, crew
quarters, and fuel depots: In the end,
even with all this technology, you’ve got a massive industrial complex.”
Alaska’s Oil Addiction
n
78% of state
budget is funded by North Slope oil revenue
n
Alaskans pay no
state income or sales taxes
n
Each Alaskan
receives yearly check from state oil revenues; Typically
it is $1000 to $2,000.
n
Oil from Prudhoe Bay is running out (From 19 billion barrels to
6.4 now); Pipeline flow down 50%.
n
No wonder 75% of
Alaskans support drilling in the arctic.
Natives’ perspective
n
Inupiat Eskimos
who live in ANWR next to 1002 support it; 78% in Kaktovik
n
Own oil/gas
rights in ANWR which can’t be leased unless ANWR opened up
n
Do not live a
subsistence lifestyle but are part of the modern cash economy
n
One of the US’s wealthiest
Native groups
n
Oppose offshore
oil development fearing it would harm bowhead whale hunt important to their
cultural identity
Inupiat Eskimos of Kaktovic
Gwich’in Indians oppose
n
Fear it will harm
Porcupine Caribou herd
n
Don’t live in
ANWR but hunt caribou that migrate there.
n
Live (mostly) a
subsistence lifestyle; Caribou meat 80% of tribal diet
n
Ethic of hunters
sharing caribou meat essential to their culture
n
1002: “Sacred
birthing ground of caribou and ultimately of Gwich’in
people”
Gwich’in
Indians
Effects on Porcupine Caribou herd?
n
150,000 animals
migrate to coastal plain in summer for foraging, protection from predators and
insect, and to calve
n
Canadian
estimate: Drilling could cause 40% decline in birthrate
n
Central Artic
herd near Prudhoe bay: “Thriving” (oil
industry) or “calving near Prudhoe Bay nearly
ceased”(Canadians)
n
Porcupine herd
has no where to move
Caribou and Oil Rig
n
One study:
“Wildlife adapted well to oil drilling.”
Tentative conclusions
n
Should not risk cultural genocide
n
Even “environmentally-friendly” oil development
would ruin the Arctic Refuge’s pristine character
Should not risk cultural genocide
n
Gwich’in spokesperson Faith Gemmil: “Don’t’ sacrifice our way of life for short
term economic gain.”
n
Some impact on
Porcupine Herd likely; but probably not enough to undermine the Gwich’in subsistence hunt and way of life
n
But even a tiny
chance of causing cultural genocide should prevent drilling
u
Especially given
our the history of our treatment of Natives Americans
Oil development would ruin the Arctic Refuge’s pristine nature
n
A significant
part of the value of this place is that it is untouched by modern human
industrial desire
n
The pristine,
virginal character of places like the Arctic Refuge are necessarily spoiled
even by environmentally careful petro development
n
Temporary
McDonalds in Louvre?
n
Sexual assault
while sedated?
Current politics of ANWR (April 2005)
n
On March 18,
Senate voted 51-49 to include revenue from drilling in the Refuge in the federal
budget
n
This means that
opponents of drilling cannot use a filibuster to block oil development in the
Refuge
u
A filibuster can
only be broken by 60 votes, something drilling proponents don’t have
n
Last year a
federal budget was not passed, and so drilling opponents have some hope this
will occur again
n
They also hope
that the drilling provision will be taken out of the budget in future votes