The
long ignored safety problems on Alaska’s North Slope, and the resulting
shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, have proven claims that drilling
can be done without harm to the environment to be as faulty and full of
leaks as a BP pipeline.
Oil drilling is dirty business that has no business in the Arctic Refuge.
It’s
extremely troubling that a company like BP, which markets itself as
“environmentally friendly,” would put its profits ahead of safe and
responsible operations.
The
recent shutdown of Prudhoe Bay should not be viewed as an event
isolated to BP. The history of oil and gas drilling on the North Slope
is a history of dirty, dangerous, and destructive industry practices.
The
safety problems that led to shutdown of Prudhoe Bay makes the case that
these companies can’t be trusted when it comes to operating in
sensitive areas in the North Slope.
It’s
time to put America’s technological know-how to work to move us away
from our dependence on oil. We have the technology and ability to
double the average gas mileage of our cars to at least 40 miles per
gallon within a decade. Such an increase would save us 2.3 million
barrels of oil per day in 2015-- nearly six times the amount of oil
that was produced by the Prudhoe Bay oil field before the August
shutdown, and twice as much oil as could be produced from the Arctic
Refuge at peak production levels were the Refuge to be opened for oil
and gas drilling.
It’s
time for Congress to stop giving massive taxpayer handouts to the oil
companies and to start promoting solutions that will reduce our
dependence on oil and move us toward a clean and renewable energy
future.
