Arctic Oil

I recently returned from a fantastic trip to the Arctic Circle. It was a trip of a lifetime and am very thankful that I was able to go.

The USGS (United States Geological Survey) just released a report, 90 Billion Barrels of Oil and 1,670 Trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas Assessed in the Arctic, about undiscovered and technically recoverable energy resources in the Arctic.

90 billion barrels of oil represents approximately 13% of the worlds undiscovered oil reserves.

After meeting many of the local people in the Arctic Circle, it is a fairly safe generalization to say that they want to see that oil discovered and recovered. They are deeply family-oriented people and they want to turn that oil into educations and futures for their children. Through their ANC (Alaskan Native Corporation) system, they have created incredible investment vehicles to protect and nurture future generations.

Luddite “environmentalists” worry about how oil and gas recovery will hurt “the environment.” I was able to tour the Red Creek mine in the Arctic Circle — the worlds largest zinc mine. Before the mine was built, lead deposits were seeping into the water supply. The water was unsafe to drink and even fish could not live in it. Now that the mine is in operation, the water is safe to drink and the river supports a healthy fish population. The operations at the mine did not seem to bother the caribou who stopped to observe the humans at work. We humans are a part of nature. It is only the naive and arrogant “environmentalists” who see themselves as “above” nature and separate from it.

The downside is that these 90 billion barrels of oil represent only 12 years of United States oil consumption. We currently produce 8.322 million barrels of oil a day and consume 20.8 million barrels of oil a day. Even added to our current domestic production, this new oil will fuel our economy for less than two decades.

Clearly, this is a stop-gap measure. John McCain has promised that his administration will put into motion a plan to build 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030. This oil can help get us to that point.

If we don’t use our own natural resources, we are forced to buy oil from fascists regimes like Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. We are, in effect, supporting despotism and the enslavement of our fellow human beings by these fascist governments.

Nuclear power is the only reasonable future, but oil is the only actual present. We must act now to protect the present and the future.