Arctic refuge threatened

Republicans in the U.S. Congress have renewed efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. They are seeking to use the federal budget as their vehicle, and they have the support of the Trump White House. The last time they made such a bid, they failed a dozen years ago. Little has changed since — the refuge is still a national treasure, worthy of protection as wilderness, its preservation part of the obligation of one generation to the next.

The budget plan approved by the Senate last week calls for raising an additional $1 billion US during the next decade through the leasing of federal lands. That includes the eight million hectares of the refuge in the remote northeast portion of Alaska, the drilling activity targeted for 600,000 hectares along the coastal plain.

The congressional push has been complemented by the Interior Department now seeking to modify regulations dating to the 1980s and pave the way to drilling activity.

The first step in drilling activity involves seismic studies to determine the potential for oil and gas production. Would companies jump to launch evaluations? Such preliminary work might go forward. The most telling measure is whether they would begin the process of exploratory wells and eventually production.

With oil at roughly $50 per barrel, they probably would stay away, according to many analysts. If the numbers don’t work, and thus the promises of jobs and growth, what is the rush? Or better yet, why disrupt these precious lands under any circumstances?

The development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge isn’t necessary to U.S. national security or the energy supply. It belongs untouched. Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal