The Price of Wilderness

[skunk]

Does anybody have any idea how much oil there is left in Alaska? Is it really enough to make it worth the destruction?

[zimv20]

i don't know the amount, but i recall reading that it'd take about 10 years to get everything up and running. my impression is that the amount pumped would be less than the delta of consumption now and consumption in 10 years (at current consumption increase rates).

iow, it's not enough to accomplish much of anything.

leads me to the conclusion, once again, that the only reasonable tactics are conservation and development of alternative energies.

[Roger1]

I keep thinking that we should start putting diesel engines into everything, and run them on vegetable oil.

[Ugg]

The most liberal estimates for ANWR equal one year's worth of consumption for the US although it would take 30 years to get it all out of the ground.

The north slope which supplies the Alaska pipeline is slowly running out. Also, with the increased warming in northern regions, the permafrost is melting and the pipeline itself is slowly sinking. Most construction work is also done in the winter and the runways and roads are actually made of ice. So, if warming continues it is extremely unlikely that they would be able to do much up there as it would turn into a big swamp. Unless of course there was year round access to an ice-free northern passage which is very possible in the near future.

No, IMO, it's not worth it.

[pseudobrit]

with the increased warming in northern regions, the permafrost is melting and the pipeline itself is slowly sinking

Irony, thy name is oil.

[mouchoir]

Irony, thy name is oil.

there is something beautiful about that, though I fear the irony will be lost on those that want to go ahead with it...

[IJ Reilly]

Incidentally, President Bush's budget assume a couple of billion in oil revenue from ANWR. Connect those dots if your dare. The irony grows ever deeper.