S O U N D   O F F

June 21, 2008

I was asked my opinion as a resident of Alaska about drilling in ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Refuge). I am a 16 year resident of Alaska. I am not an expert on oil drilling, wildlife, nor do I work for the oil industry. I am just a guy raising my family in Alaska.
For years, a local TV news program in Anchorage ran a particular video clip every time they did a story on ANWR. The video was met with howls of laughter from everyone in the State. The clip showed snow-capped mountains in the background with a tiny bird perched on a budding branch in the foreground. After many complaints that the video clip didn’t represent what we all knew ANWR to be – thousands of miles of frozen tundra – the television station quit running the video clip.

Drilling in ANWR is a running joke in Alaska. Everyone in the Lower 48 think that ANWR is a pristine wilderness. It is actually thousands of miles of flat tundra where a handful of people live. There is a lot of wildlife, but the wildlife actually receives better care with the oil companies there. For example, because the oil companies are watched like a hawk by the State, wildlife biologists are constantly monitoring the caribou herds and other species, keeping constant tabs on their health. As a result, the caribou herds have grown to record numbers and are healthier than ever.

When the oil companies drill, they are forced by State law to take extraordinary precautions, are fined if there is the slightest spill, and have to leave the land in better condition than they found it. Drilling for oil in ANWR makes sense to everyone in Alaska; but the media, conservationists and Congress have everyone in the rest of America believing that we are raping the land in Alaska.
I was invited to take a tour of the North Slope a few years ago and saw first hand the precautions the oil companies must follow. My wife has three relatives who have worked on the slope and have told me in detail how careful the oil companies have to be. Yes, Alaskans are for drilling in ANWR. Everyone thinks that's because we want jobs. That is true, but it is only a part of it. We also want drilling in ANWR because we know how stringent the State is on the oil companies. Drilling is safe, has little impact on the land and the oil companies are held accountable by the State of Alaska when they make mistakes.

It is a shame that it has taken $4.00 a gallon gas for people to finally realize what we in Alaska have known all along.

Gary
Anchorage, AK