The Return of Alaskan Oil Drilling

Even though Congress has shifted into an "All Anti-Terror All the Time" legislative mode since Sept. 11, a few other bills are still getting attention. One of the biggest currently making its way through the Senate: A proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (remember that one?). It helps that proponents have found an anti-terrorism angle; the current conflict in Afghanistan allows them to argue that the U.S. needs to be less dependent on foreign oil, and, they say, the only way to do that is to drill for more.

Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski, the bill's chief sponsor, argues for passage before Congress finishes appropriation bills and adjourns for the year. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has also been lobbying for the measure, despite the embarrassment of a recent Washington Post story revealing she used data from a study sponsored by BP Amoco rather than her own Fish and Wildlife Service when answering Senators' questions on how drilling would affect caribou. The Fish and Wildlife Service happens to manage ANWR.

Leaving aside the argument over whether to drill or not and whether caribou actually like oil wells, the ANWR fight reveals a dilemma states' often find themselves in during environmental battles. With all the debate over ANWR, has anyone bothered to ask Alaskans how they feel?

Well, no. States' rights and land rights advocates would argue that's a typical example of the federal government making decisions in Washington without bothering to ask the locals. But one reason the feds haven't asked is that there's no doubt where Alaskans stand. The state's congressional delegation has been drilling's biggest proponents. State polls show two-thirds of Alaskans consistently support drilling in ANWR.

The reason? Oil has been Alaska's lifeblood for 30 years. The state economy has always been dependent on its abundant natural resources, whether that means gold, timber, fishing or oil. Black gold is currently king, bringing in $8 billion last year. An unstable energy industry in the last decade has led the state to expand other industries like tourism, but tourists only contributed a little over $1 billion last year. And all Alaskans share in the oil profits. Drilling next door to ANWR, in Prudhoe Bay, was so profitable in the late '70s that the state abolished income and sales taxes. The state government derives more than 80% of its revenues from oil proceeds. The rest of the money goes into the state's Permanent Fund, where it's invested. Instead of paying taxes, every resident gets a yearly dividend from the Permanent Fund, currently a little less than $2,000 for every man, woman and child. Not bad.

Most Alaskans also tend to be wary of the federal government, which is understandable, living as they do about as far away from Washington as you can get and still be in the U.S. Yet at the same time, the federal presence there is huge. Almost 60% of federal wilderness lands are in Alaska, dotting the state with large swaths of parks, refugees, and wilderness areas. The feds and the state government together own 90% of the real estate. So when Congress and lobbyists in Washington start debating over a frigid chunk of Alaska that's the size of South Carolina, the locals are understandably miffed. And when the state economy depends so heavily on oil, residents aren't always patient with environmentalists who live thousands of miles away. The Anchorage Daily News griped that environmentalists see Alaska as "a national zoo."

But for all the cries of independence, Alaska is dependent on the federal government. The state receives more federal dollars per resident than any other state, mostly money for military bases and federal capital projects. The cost of living is very high in a state that straddles the Arctic Circle, especially in transportation and public health.

Alaska and Washington's interdependence show that while this may be the last frontier, it's also a part of America. And that's why all Americans get a say on whether we should drill in ANWR. It's the last unspoiled wilderness of its kind, and its a treasure that has to belong to all Americans. That doesn't mean Alaskans' opinions and perspectives Shouldn't carry added weight, but it's a decision rightly left in federal hands.