Arctic Refuge
Debunking the 2,000-Acre Myth
2,000 Acre Myth Fact Sheet
2,000 Acre Oil and Gas Development Scenario
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2,000 Acre Oil and Gas Development Scenario
(With 2,000 acre box for scale relationship)
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Distribution of Selected Wildlife
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Debunking the 2,000 Acre Myth
Sound science must form the basis of a responsible national energy policy, a policy that improves our national security by decreasing our dependence on foreign oil. As the Senate moves closer to considering ways to increase domestic energy production, there has never been a greater need for the truth about oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Proponents of Arctic drilling have falsely claimed that new technology could significantly limit the environmental impact of drilling in the Refuge. And recently, the Washington Post learned that Secretary of the Interior provided inaccurate information to a Senate committee regarding the impact of drilling on caribou and ignored a 1995 report citing detrimental effects on polar bears. A coalition of organizations concerned with the future of the Arctic Refuge have developed materials that reveal such claims as mere myths.
Development Scenario Map General Assumptions.
The speculative development scenario maps illustrate development that could occur consistent with the 2,000-acre "limitation" in the House Energy bill (H.R. 4, Section 6507(a)(3)). It is based on information from the United States Geological Survey (1998) that potential oil in the Refuge is not located in one "elephant" field, but is scattered across the coastal plain in smaller pockets. The development scenario uses a 4-mile directional drilling reach from drill sites, a distance commonly cited by the oil industry and included in President Bush's National Energy Policy
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Note: Feel free to print and distribute maps as long as Conservation GIS Center is credited with production of maps. Contact the Center for hardcopies.
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