Environmentalists claim that the refuge is the crown jewel of the American wilderness, and home for many caribou - the flagship species of the Arctic (Lovins). Drilling in this area could destroy its integrity, many animal populations, and especially the caribou population. For lovers of teeming wildlife, vast open spaces, and snowy vistas, a visit to the Arctic R

While opposing drilling in ANWR, mostly because we should not put caribou and other wildlife at risk for the sake of getting more petroleum, we are exposing humans to far greater risks because of federal policies motivated by concern over the existing oil supply. To save gasoline, the federal government imposes Corporate Domestic energy policy standards on automobile producers that require all new cars to average 27.5 miles per gallon (Lee). In order to achieve this standard the cars must be lighter, and it is widely known that heavier cars are safer because there is more bulk to protect the occupant. An interesting question is how many more lives might be saved by using more oil and driving heavier cars rather than using less oil and driving lighter, more dangerous cars? It has been estimated that increasing the average weight of passenger cars by 100 pounds would decrease mileage by 0.85 miles per gallon, and reduce highway fatalities by 200 a year (Lee). By doing the math we can make an estimate at how many lives would be saved by harvesting the approximated 185.3 billion gallons of gas from ANWR (Lovins). This amount of gas would be enough to save 200 lives for 90 years, equaling 18,000 lives (Lee). Are we willing to bear such a cost in order to avoid the risks, if any, to ANWR and its caribou?

Some topics in this essay:
Corporate Domestic, ANWR Lovins, Middle East, Lee Environmentalists, Improvements Arctic, Scheer Concerns, America's Serengeti, Wildlife Sanctuary, Lee Drilling, Lee Maybe, prudhoe bay, drilling anwr, oil spill, american lives, oil companies, oil drilling, drilling oil, cronin et al, especially caribou, accidents spills, caribou population, using oil driving,