Arctic Refuge Drilling Won't Lower Fuel Prices

April 29, 2008

President Bush's renewed call to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is a distraction that fails to address the root causes of rising fuel prices, Republicans for Environmental Protection, a national grassroots organization, said today.

"No one wants to pay high gas prices, but the simple fact is that drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge wouldn't even make a dent in the problem," REP Government Affairs Director David Jenkins said. "We need real energy solutions based on facts, not phony solutions that perpetuate our dependence on oil - a fuel source that exists mostly beyond our borders."

"The facts are this: Oil is bought and sold in a global market. Oil prices are rising because of high world demand, problems in oil producing areas, and the weak U.S. dollar. Any oil found beneath the Arctic Refuge would not begin to come on line until at least 2015, and even then it wouldn't add enough production to significantly reduce oil prices," Jenkins added.

"Relying on more domestic drilling is yesterday's answer to today's energy problems," REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso said. "The U.S. uses 25 percent of the world's oil, but we hold less than 3 percent of proven oil reserves worldwide. The best way to reduce our vulnerability to high oil prices is to reduce our demand for oil."

"Manufacturing more fuel-efficient vehicles will help. The boost in fuel economy standards adopted in last year's energy bill will save far more oil than the Arctic Refuge could ever produce," DiPeso said. "Greater efficiency will set the stage for new fuels and drive technologies that will get us off the oil dependence treadmill once and for all - without ruining our finest public treasures to scrape out the last barrels of oil."