Liberal myth

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will kill thousands of animals and not solve our energy shortage.

The facts

Oil can be removed from ANWR, America’s largest untapped oil reserve, with minimal impact.

A million barrels a day

• According to the US Geological Survey, ANWR could provide up to a million barrels per day—or about 5 percent of American oil usage—for several decades
• ANWR could hold reserves far larger than expected, as has the Prudhoe Bay oilfield
• This oil would be extracted from 2,000 non-contiguous acres within ANWR’s 19 million acre expanse

Little environmental harm

The Prudhoe Bay oilfields in Alaska, opened 30 years ago, prove drilling can be done in a low-impact manner.

• Decades of drilling on a scale much larger than that envisioned in ANWR have not harmed animals in the area
• Technology used there is substantially less sophisticated or environmentally-friendly as that used today

New source of income

• Leases on the federal land in ANWR are expected to bring in $5 billion for the government, assuming oil prices remain at $50 or more per barrel

Related Heritage research

• Ben Lieberman, “Opening ANWR: Long Overdue,” March 17, 2005