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Viewpoints

Scared to print the truth?
By Pete Baltzer

 

May 26, 2006
Friday


Editor,

You seem to be scared to print the truth. Why?

H.R. 5429 ( http://thomas.loc.gov/ ) REPEALS Section 1003 of the 1980 ANILCA.

H.R. 5429 allows oil and gas exploration on approx. 1,549,000 acres -- except for possibly up to a total of 45,000 acres the Secretary "may designate" as "special areas".

That's almost all of the refuge's "critically important" coastal plain zone.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 'Potential Impacts of Oil and Gas Development on Refuge Resources'
http://arctic.fws.gov/issues1.htm#section4

H.R. 5429 says: "SEC. 4. LEASE SALES. (d) Acreage Minimum in First Sale- ..., but in no case less than 200,000 acres.

SEC. 7.(3) ensure that the maximum amount of surface acreage covered by production and support facilities, including airstrips and any areas covered by gravel berms or piers for support of pipelines, does not exceed 2,000 acres on the Coastal Plain."

Your "2,000 acres" is basically 3+ square miles of tundra buried under a thick layer of gravel -- like in this photo,
http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/AlpineNoEnvironmentalShowpiece.pdf

It omits the 100+ miles of gravel roads needed to connect the scattered sites. It omits the large gravel mines needed to supply huge amounts of gravel. It omits the network of pipelines (except for support areas).

Speculative maps

http://www.conservationgiscenter.org/maps/html/debunking_2000.html
http://www.sierraclub.com/arctic/justthefacts/2000_acre_footprint.asp
http://www.nrdc.org/land/wilderness/artech/farc2000.asp

Do you like the current oil supply situation, and high prices?

Refuge oil, with luck and high prices, might replace other declining domestic sources. Status quo. An optimistic analysis, ignores production costs.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/ogp/results.html

http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/PennyaGallon20yrs1.pdf

Refuge oil is high-cost, high-risk.
http://www.uspirg.org/reports/falseprofits2003.pdf

Higher energy efficiency, biofuels, and hydrogen would cut our oil demand in HALF by 2025, perhaps ZERO imports by 2035. See graph, "The path beyond oil...", page 229, (PDF pg 253 of 332) http://oilendgame.com Unlike Refuge oil, it's proven and guaranteed. Note the drop, late 70's thru mid 80's, due to higher efficiency.

OPEC appreciates Congressman Young's strategy. They wants us to drill (and deplete) our higher-cost oil first.

"Oil is fungible", page 14 (PDF 38 of 332) http://oilendgame.com "The aim of the OPEC cartel is to constrain supply, and thereby force others to produce higher-cost oil first, then sell the cartel's cheap oil for that higher price -- and by depleting others' oil first, make buyers even more dependent on the cartel later."

Your readers WILL eventually learn the truth about this important issue.

Pete Baltzer
Austin, TX - USA


About: Pete Baltzer is an advocate against drilling in the Arctic.

 

Related News:

US House Passes ANWR Bill - Today, by a vote of 225 to 201, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 5429, the American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act. Introduced by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.), H.R. 5429 allows oil and gas exploration and development on 2,000 acres of the Arctic Coastal Plain. - More...
May 25, 2006


 

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