The consequences of oil field development include: blocking or disturbing wildlife, loss of subsistence hunting opportunities, increased predation by artic fox, gulls and ravens on nesting birds due to introduction of garbage as a consistent food source, alteration of natural drainage patterns (causing changes in vegetation), deposition of alkaline dust on tundra along roads, altering vegetation, local pollutant, haze and acid rain from nitrogen oxides, methane and particulate emissions, and the contamination of soil and water in the case of oil or fuel spills. .
They argue that only 8% of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge would be considered for exploration.
Fact: The ANWR is the largest unit in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The refuge is America's finest example of an intact naturally functioning community of artic/subartic ecosystems. The Artic Refuge is the only area on Alaska's North Slope where petroleum development is specifically prohibited by Congress. The rest of the region is available for oil and gas development. (1.4 million barrels of fuel are extracted daily) Between 1980 and 1994 the North Slope field development contributed over $50 billion to the nation's economy, so it is unreasonable to suggest that we are not capitalizing off the Artic. The reserve is but a small portion of land designated for the native people and animals of the region. The 100-mile wide Coastal Plain or 1002 Area is located more than 30 miles from the end of the nearest pipeline and more than 50 miles from the nearest gravel road and oil support facilities. Thus development in this area would likely require a large number of small production sites spread across the Refuge landscape, connected by an infrastructure of roads, pipelines, power plant, processing facilities, loading docks, dormitories, airstrips, gravel pits, utility lines and landfills. And finally, any pollution, oil spills, displacement of animals, etc would affect the refuge as a whole, it is impossible to contain it to 8% .
