Feeling Good About ANWR

Many arguments in politics revolve around more than the merits of the issue at hand. Some issues serve as symbols or metaphors for other, broader themes. When an issue grows into a metaphor, it often means that clear and dispassionate thought about it will forever be impossible, lost in ardent rhetoric. The question of oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) may be one such issue.

The entire reserve extends over 20 million acres, roughly the land area of South Carolina. The area that is required for oil and gas development is about 2000 acres, roughly the size of Dulles Airport in the suburbs of Washington DC. This is far smaller than a ranch owned by left-wing billionaire Ted Turner.

The well-respected, left-of-center magazine, the New Republic has briefly come over from the Dark Side and recognized the disingenuousness of the fight against drilling in ANWR. In the words of the New Republic editors:

"From the wailing and rending of garments that has followed the House of Representatives vote last week to allow ANWR exploration, you'd think environmentalists had good evidence that drilling for oil and gas would ecologically devastate the...Arctic tundra. They don't."

Contrary to visions of dead caribou, decades of experience with oil development on the North Slope of Alaska shows only minor instances of environmental damage. The caribou population has actually increased since oil and gas development began.

What the editors of the New Republic did not see was that the vision of the decimation of caribou herds now galloping across the tundra was an image that Democrats in Congress wanted to firmly attach to George Bush. Democrats want George Bush to be depicted at as a callous oil-and-gas-man who would be happy to cover Yellowstone Park in a forest of oil derricks if it would make money for his oil friends. Any correspondence of their charges about ANWR to the truth would only be a happy coincidence. Imagery and symbolism were paramount, careful analysis irrelevant.

The editors of the New Republic instead encouraged Democrats to concentrate on what they consider a far more important issue, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, standard to increase the fuel efficiency of cars. Forget about a tiny area in Alaska, the editors argue. It is more important to apply much stricter fuel economy standards to the dreaded Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). Presently, SUVs are considered trucks and are not subject to the fuel economy standards applicable to cars.

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