Alaska

Currently, however, Alaska finds itself in the middle of a hotly debated issue over whether or not to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The ANWR, at first 8.9 million acres of federally protected mountains and coastal plain in northeastern Alaska, was first set aside in 1957 by Secretary of the Interior, Fred B. Seaton, during the Eisenhower Administration (Issue in Detail 2001). At the same time, Seaton set aside 20 million acres of the North Slope of Alaska for commercial oil and gas leasing (2001). From that point to this, periodically the subject of opening up the refuge for oil drilling has been brought up. With an approval of 240 to 189 in the House, and a debate, threatening to be a fi

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sought is significant, up to 10.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered. This could displace the imports of oil from Saudi Arabia for up to 20 years and reduce reliance on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by about 1 million barrels a day and thus drive down the price of fuel for the next 30 years (Langenkamp B15). Consequently, for proponents of oil drilling in the ANWR, this significant addition to our nation's energy resources, combined with the jobs that would be created in a recession economy, the low impact that exploration would have on the environment, and the strong support of residents in the area are all compelling reasons for drilling to take place in the 1002 Area. Why Limited Drilling Should Not Be Allowed There are, of course, those who are opposed to oil and gas exploration in the ANWR. These critics contend that the promised jobs are a mere fraction of the given estimate, and are temporary at that, the oil that would be recovered would be an insignificant amount, and that there would indeed be a huge impact on the delicate balance of the environment in that area. According to the Boston Globe, the study the Teamsters used in their estimate of created labor was commissioned by th
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Approximate Word count = 2293
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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