After a year of soaring gas pump prices and high home heating costs, many policymakers and analysts want to tap the oil reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling pristine Alaskan lands is a shortsighted and ineffective strategy tantamount to placing a band-aid over a compound fracture. For long-term solutions that make economic and environmental sense, policymakers should act to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy, and to eliminate fuel-economy loopholes for light trucks and SUVs.

Reaping What We've Sown:
The Current Oil "Crisis"

In 2000, the United States imported 54% of its oil products, sending $180,000 overseas each minute. Depending on imports leaves Americans vulnerable to oil's price volatility. The solution is not more oil, but less dependence on oil.

Drilling the Arctic:
An Unwise Choice

After the energy crisis
of the 1970s, most areas of the economy reduced their reliance on oil substantially. Today, only 2% to 3% of US electricity is generated from oil. Thus oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would have virtually no impact on California's energy crisis or other power-generation issues.

		in global environment   ANWR:Sacrificing wilderness for oil  off-site   Arctic Refuge oil & gas issues   USGS ANWR oil assessment

Arctic Power photos

Real Transportation Solutions:
Fuel-Efficient SUVs and Alternative Fuels

Transportation is the largest consumer of oil in the country (67%), and thus is highly vulnerable to volatile oil prices. With the fuel economy of new passenger vehicles at a 20-year low, American drivers feel the pinch when gas prices soar. Booming sales of SUVs and light trucks are responsible for this plummeting fuel efficiency.

If we opened the Arctic Refuge today, oil would not being flowing until 2010. But if we start to increase SUV and light truck fuel economy today, by 2015 we could save as much oil as economically recoverable from ANWR over 50 years. And drivers would save $25 billion a year at the pump. To give automakers the incentive to make these technologies available to consumers, policymakers must close the fuel-economy loophole that allows light trucks to burn 33% more gasoline per mile than passenger cars. Affordable technologies are currently available to boost SUV and light truck fuel economy without sacrificing power.

Other, more advanced technologies -- some already in production and others available in the near future -- can make even greater impacts on our oil dependence.

• Hybrid engines, which combine an electric motor and gasoline engine, can boost the fuel efficiency of any vehicle.
  
  
• Fuel cells, which could be in showrooms this decade, provide a zero-emission, gasoline-free method to power all cars and trucks.
  
  

Real Energy Solutions: Efficiency and Renewable Energy

A better answer to power outages and price spikes than drilling in the Arctic Refuge is to decrease demand through efficiency and to increase electricity production from renewable sources. Because renewable power does not rely on fossil fuels, it is not subject to the price volatility that plagues power plants, most of which run on coal and natural gas.

By enhancing energy efficiency and acquiring more energy from renewables, the United States could save about 580 million barrels of oil annually by 2010. At this rate, in just 5.5 years we could save as much oil as is economically recoverable from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, leaving this oil in the ground will keep nearly 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

Those who call for drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are looking for quick fixes rather than sustainable solutions. Through fuel-efficient automobiles, energy efficiency, and increased renewable energy, we can lower the demand for oil. Through improved choices, America can avoid the pitfalls of oil overdependence.