We should work toward energy conservation and efficiency because the development of the coastal plain would by no means make us independent of foreign oil. Imports of crude oil and refined products now cost the nation an annual $40 billion. According the U.S. Department of Commerce, oil represents the largest single commodity in the U.S. Balance of Trade deficit with other nations. But with the development of ANWR, our increased domestic production would decrease the deficit caused by crude oil imports, all the while, according to Wharton Economic Forecasting Associations, creating an estimated 736,000 jobs.
These jobs would also spread throughout the nation in the production, manufacturing and service sectors. Federal revenues would increase by tens of billions of dollars from bonus bids, lease rentals, royalties and taxes.
I, along with 75 percent of Alaskans and the Inupiat Eskimos that live in ANWR, do not believe that reasonable development in just 2,000 of the 19 million acres in ANWR is wrong. The region holds resources that America needs, which can, and should be, safely extracted without destruction to the ecosystem.
James M. McElligott ’03 is an economics concentrator in Mather house.