Should we drill for oil in the Actic National Wildlife Refuge? Pastpresidents have had differnt views on this issue. For Example,during the Bush administration a proposal was made to open up theArctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil exploration as part ofthe President’s energy policy to promote less dependence onimported oil. Environmentalists argued that opening up the refuge tooil exploration and drilling would damage the fragile arcticenvironment and possibly injure the diversity of arctic species. Theadministration argued that there were an estimated 5.7 to 16 billionbarrels of oil in the ANWR and that only a small amount of land thereserve would be used for drilling and damage to the environmentand wildlife would be very small.For Critical Analysis:What is the opportunity cost to the economy of the decision toprohibit development of oil reserves in the ANWR? Do you thinkcongress should have passed the bill that would of permitted oilexploration and development in the ANWR? Why? Where does thecurrent administration stand on this issue?
