Visualizing Environmental Science

Fairbanks

Valdez

Prudhoe Bay

CHUKCHI

SEA

BERING

SEA

Gulf of Alaska

Prince William Sound

ALASKA CANADA

RUSSIA

0

0 100 200 300 kilometers

100 200 300 miles

60 N

KODIAK

ISLAND

Trans-Alaska

Pipeline

National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

Arctic

National

Wildlife

Refuge

a. Located in the northeastern part of Alaska, the Arctic

National Wildlife Refuge is situated close to the Trans-

Alaska Pipeline, which begins at Prudhoe Bay and extends

south to Valdez. The National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska is

also shown.

Steven J. Kazlowski/Alamy

b. Members of the caribou herd whose calving grounds are on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

eager to develop this particular site because it is near Prudhoe

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Conservationists think oil exploration poses permanent

threats to the delicate balance of nature in the Alaskan

wilderness, in exchange for a temporary oil supply. They suggest

that the money spent drilling for oil would be better used for

research into alternative, renewable energy sources and energy

conservation—a more permanent solution to the energy problem.

The Arctic National Wildlife

Refuge

In 1960 Congress declared a section of northeastern Alaska
protected because of its distinctive wildlife. In 1980 Congress
expanded this wilderness area to form the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR; see ˆ}ÕÀiÊ>). The proposed opening
of ANWR to oil exploration has been an ongoing environment-
versus-economy conflict since the refuge’s inception. On one
side are those who seek to protect rare and fragile natural
environments; on the other side are those whose higher priority
is the development of some of the last major U.S. oil supplies.
The refuge, called “America’s Serengeti,” is home to many
animal species, including polar bears, arctic foxes, peregrine
falcons, musk oxen, Dall sheep, wolverines, and snow geese.
It is the calving area for a large migrating herd of caribou (see
ˆ}ÕÀiÊL). Although it is biologically rich, the tundra is an
extremely fragile ecosystem, in part because of its harsh climate.
In the mid-1990s, prodevelopment interests became more
vocal, partly because in 1994, for the first time in its history, the
United States imported more than half the oil it used. Although
the Department of the Interior concluded that oil drilling in
the wildlife refuge would harm the area’s ecosystem, both the
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Zeehpbm'!Ik^lb]^gm;bee<ebgmhgo^mh^]ma^[bee'"Bg+))*%Ik^lb]^gm
@^hk^P';nlaZgghng\^]abllniihkm_hkhi^gbgma^k^_n^ to oil drilling, but after a contentious debate in Congress in 2005, ma^L^gZm^ohm^]ZZbglm]hbg`lh'Mh]Zm^Ik^lb]^gm;ZkZd
Obama has not supported drilling in ANWR.
Supporters cite economic considerations as the main reason
for drilling in the refuge. Development of domestic oil would
improve the balance of trade and make the United States less
dependent on foreign countries for its oil. Oil companies are

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Nuclear Energy 439

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