“Our report, ‘SAVING AMERICA’S ARCTIC: Dispelling Myths about Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,’ shows that oil and gas drilling is incompatible with an area as pristine and wild as the Arctic Refuge,” said Zack Brown, Arctic Wilderness Associate with U.S. PIRG, “An industry that averages one oil spill every 16 hours should not be allowed to get its hands on one of America’s last wild places.”

According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the number of reported oil spills on Alaska’s North Slope reached a 10-year high in 2002. In 2004, 550 spills were reported on the North Slope—one spill every 16 hours. Alaska’s North Slope has experienced an average of 504 spills annually since 1996.

The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is one of America’s last wild places. The Area supports a wide array of wildlife, including caribou, polar bear, musk oxen, and more than 130 species of migratory birds. The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is also sacred to the Gwich’in, Native Americans who refer to the area as the ‘sacred place where life begins.’

Following recent high gas prices now exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina, drilling proponents have increasingly called on Congress to allow drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. But drilling in the Arctic Refuge is unlikely to solve America’s energy problems or reduce the price of gas. According to the Bush administration’s own Energy Information Administration, oil from the Arctic Refuge would reduce the price of gas by less than a penny and a half in 2025, the estimated peak year for Refuge oil production. The same EIA study points out that drilling in the Refuge would reduce imports of foreign oil by only two to four percent at best.

“The EIA study shows that drilling in the Arctic Refuge is literally penny wise and pound foolish,” said Brown. “America needs an energy policy that is good for the environment and consumers. The easiest way to do that is to make our cars, SUVs, and light trucks go farther on a gallon of gas.”

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