The Arctic National Wildllife Refuge is the most biologically diverse arctic region in the world.  It is home to 45 species of mammals, 180 species of birds, and 23 different kinds of fish.  The 1.5 million acre coastal plain region known as the 1002 area is also the home and calving grounds of the largest caribou herd in the world, totaling 123,000 animals.  This area needs to be conserved.  The little bit of oil that is in ANWR is not worth the environmental risks that are posed.

Common arguments for development include:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is about 3 to 10 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil at a price of $30 per barrel, not far below today’s prices.  At $13 per barrel, it is estimated that there would be no economically recoverable oil.  Even if all the oil was there that is predicted, it would only be enough oil to run the country for a little more than a year.  It is not worth causing permanent damage just for a little oil.  For instance, the Audubon Alaska WatchList predicts that the buff-breasted sandpiper will become one of the five most endangered species in the world if development continues.  Besides, 95% of the North Slope is already open for development.  Forgoing one relatively small area is worth the diversity that would be saved

The biggest argument, or at least the one that you’ll hear most often is that the coastal plains of the 1002 area is the calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, the largest herd of caribou in the world.  Looking at the map, you can see that the core calving area, where there is the most concentrated amount of births, basically is the 1002 area.  Besides preserving the herd for the sake of nature and beauty, it is also life line of the Gwich’in Indians, who rely on the caribou for their subsistent life style.  Not only that, but the caribou are sacred to them.  According to the Gwich’in Creation Story “…the Gwich’in came from the caribou when there was a separation of humans from the animals…[and that] the Gwich’in would retain a part of the caribou heart and the caribou would retain a part of the Gwich’in heart…  What befalls the caribou befalls the Gwich’in.”  The caribou are especially threatened because they habitually show a 4 km avoidance of oil infrastructure.  It would be disastrous for them if they went elsewhere for calving season.  The coastal plains is wide open, which allows young caribou to spot predators from far off.  The plants there are lush and nutritious, just what mothers and newborn claves need to gain strength.  The area is also protected from bugs and insects

Claims that the caribou and other wildlife would not be significantly affected because of better technology are false.  For instance, developers are proud to say that they build with ice instead of gravel.  However, using ice disrupts the water table.  Because the ground is frozen solid, water does not soak back into the water table from which it came, but is often shed off and displaced.  This creates huge deficits in local rivers and lakes that can take years to replenish with the meager 3 to 7 inches of annual precipitation.  Also, due to leaky valves and oil spills, environmental impacts go far beyond the physical footprint of drilling area.  Besides, with the drill pads comes a network of exploration and transportation trails and pipelines.  Currently, there are 1400 acres of gravel mines, 400 miles of gravel roads, and 1200 miles of pipelines.  Each new oil field would need about 280 miles of roads and hundreds of miles of pipeline.  The coastal plains area is also becoming increasingly important to polar bears who are more frequently using dens on land instead of on icebergs thinned by global warming

As far a regulations serving to protect them environment, that’s a joke.  All that happens is that procedures a covered in secrecy.  Even British Petroleum employees who support drilling say that BP should not be allowed into ANWR until it fixes its leaky valves and regulation problems.  In 2001, 70 of BP’s employee’s publicly announced that company was in direct violation of its probation regarding spills and regulation.  The company did nothing to address their concerns.  Even with the strict regulations we have, oil companies only seek to hide the truth, not avoid trouble.  Even with regulations and what safety procedures are in place today, Prudhoe Bay suffers 400 oil spills every year of varying sizes.  We do not want another incident like the Exxon Valdez, which spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound in 1989.  The effects of this are still seen today with unhealthy levels of compounds like hydrocarbons in the soils and water of the area.  It takes 50 to 60 years for arctic vegetation to recover from being contaminated with oil, and with a spill like Valdez, it could take longer.