That new production in Alaska represented no more than a blip on the global oil market. The only way out of our current dilema and the only way for the US to achieve energy independence is to invest in energy efficient new technologies, become less reliant on oil, and embrace energy conservation, energy alternatives such as hydrogen, and renewables such as wind and solar. The vast majority of the increase in U.S. oil consumption in the last decade is in transportation. Industrial, residential and commercial use of oil has remained more or less constant due to investments in energy efficiency. Unfortunately, the average fuel efficiency of our vehicles has declined in recent years.
Automakers can produce vehicles that are significantly more fuel efficient.
The Refuge coastal plain is a unique internationally recognized wilderness and wildlife area that is the biological heart of the refuge and is the only area containing all of the Arctic sub-ecosystems protected in one place. The Refuge coastal plain cannot be developed without destroying these wild natural values. The Refuge coastal plain need not be developed if the US were to instead develop a sound energy policy that recognizes our own limitations to find oil in the US and focuses on the development of energy conservation and efficiencies, alternatives and renewables. Protecting the Refuge coastal plain is not just an environmental issue. It is also a human rights issue since the indigenous Gwich'in Indians rely on this important area for their subsistence way of life, which would be destroyed if the area were developed.