Oil Exploration in Arctic Refuge

It is necessary to respond to your most recent criticism of oil and gas exploration and production on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (editorial, Oct. 27) because you mistakenly believe that production from the plain will harm the wildlife of Alaska, while you ignore the true economic benefits.

There will be no threat to the caribou because new technology makes it possible to develop an oil field the size of the existing Prudhoe Bay field and only disturb about 2,000 acres of the 19-million-acre coastal plain. That “footprint” is far smaller in size than Los Angeles International Airport, while an area the size of the state of South Carolina is being fully protected.

Twenty years of experience at Prudhoe Bay has shown that oil development does not destroy the environment. Caribou that live at Prudhoe Bay have more than tripled in number--caribou that frequently calve in the Kuparuk oil field. Concerning polar bears, over the past 20 years there has never been the loss of a single polar bear due to oil development.

Opening ANWR will likely pour $1.3 billion almost immediately into the federal treasury from leasing. If oil is found, it could add $325 billion to our national economy and generate 735,000 jobs nationwide, including 80,000 in California. Proof of that comes from the fact that during the past 14 years, Californians have gained some $3.2 billion from Prudhoe Bay development--one-seventh of all the economic activity fueled by North Slope oil production.

ANWR by federal estimates could hold more oil than the proven reserves of the United Kingdom, or Norway, or several OPEC nations. Since it will take a decade to find and produce oil, given the need to take our time to protect the environment, we had better start now. We have no intention of repeating the environmental mistakes of the past. Californians should be supportive of ANWR production, because no state is more dependent on Alaska-produced oil than California to meet its energy needs.

SEN. FRANK H. MURKOWSKI

R-Alaska