The real solution to our energy problems is increased fuel efficiency. It would be faster, cheaper and cleaner than drilling in the refuge. Given that current U.S. demand for oil, which is more than 7.1 billion barrels per year, is increasing about 2 percent annually, the coastal plain would contribute less than 1 percent of the oil we are projected to consume over the next 50 years. Even if the Senate Republicans succeeded in opening the coastal plain to drilling tomorrow, it would take at least 10 years for the first refuge oil to arrive at West Coast refineries. And it would take another 15 years before the coastal plain reached its maximum production level.
Oil is a global commodity whose price is determined by international markets.
The United States today produces only about 12 percent of world petroleum supplies, so even a significant boost in domestic production would have a marginal effect. In any case, the U.S. share of global production will decline even if oil companies develop the coastal plain because the United States has less than 3 percent of world oil reserves. NRDC does welcome provisions in the Senate Republican energy bill that would provide tax incentives to reduce fuel consumption, but the group ruled out any deal that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge in exchange for energy efficiency measures. If the Republican leadership is serious about enacting energy efficiency provisions, it will have to present a clean bill. The public, meanwhile, does not support oil development in the coastal plain.