The "2,000-acres" Scam

October 26, 2005

Energy bills that have narrowly passed the House of Representatives (H.R. 4 August 2, 2001; H.R. 6 April 11, 2003, H.R. 6, April, 21 2005) contain language designed to make oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sound more palatable to the public. One such scam was an amendment claiming development would be confined to a 2,000 acre area. In reality, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling would cause environmental devastation across the entire 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain, the biological heart of the Refuge.