Head to head: Arctic oil drilling

The United States House of Representatives has approved energy legislation which includes controversial plans for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

BBC News Online asked Chris Kelley, spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute, and Mark Lynas, a journalist and environmentalist, to debate the issue.

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What is the cause of the US oil crisis?

Chris Kelley:
"There is not an oil crisis, nor is there an energy crisis at the moment. There could be an energy crisis in the future if the US government, including Congress and energy interests do not get together to fashion an energy strategy for the future, a plan that focuses on oil and gas supplies and conservation as well."

Mark Lynas:
"The US does have an oil crisis. It uses too much of it - with only five percent of the world's population, America uses nearly a third of the world's oil. This dependence has made oil corporations like Exxon-Mobil so powerful that it has directly contributed to the country's current democratic crisis. The industry now blatantly controls the White House, making the US government little more than then administrative arm of big oil."

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Will the oil drilling have an impact on the environment?

Chris Kelley:
"Oil drilling these days is done in a very environmentally safe manner. The size of the drill platforms are significantly smaller, thus lessening the impact on the surface. One rig can now drill multiple wells from just one location making drilling much more productive and safe for the environment."

Mark Lynas:
"Oil drilling has disastrous impacts on the environment, both locally because of industrial infrastructure and spills and globally because of climate change. Alaska suffers from both. There are 400 spills annually on the oil-rich North Slope of the state, and few can forget the Exxon Valdez disaster. Development in ANWR would similarly destroy one of America's last great wildernesses. And all over Alaska, climate change is already killing forests, destroying buildings and roads as permafrost melts, and leading to the disappearance of lakes and wildlife."

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Should the US cut energy consumption?

Chris Kelley:
"Conservation is a major ingredient in the energy strategy put forward by the president and both parties in congress. But conservation alone will not be enough. Adequate additional oil and natural gas production is essential too."

Mark Lynas:
"US energy consumption is now so high that all the oil in ANWR would only keep its cars and factories running for a mere six months. A simple one mile-per-gallon improvement in automobile fuel efficiency could save half a million barrels of oil per day, yet fuel efficiency standards are going down as people buy bigger and bigger cars. Whilst George Bush remains president, the lust for corporate profits will clearly drive the nation's energy policy, but in the longer term the US must cut consumption because other nations will refuse to accept the accelerating cost of climate change-related disasters."

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Will oil drilling in Alaska benefit the local people?

Chris Kelley:
"Yes, all Alaskans now receive an annual payment from the state's royalty shares. And drilling in Alaska means more jobs for people either directly in the oil industry or indirectly through companies doing business with oil companies."

Mark Lynas:
"The Eskimos of Alaska's North Slope have long served as the public relations front for big oil companies like BP. It is true that they get jobs and revenue from the industry, as do people throughout the state. But oil has also destroyed traditional native culture, and is firmly opposed by the Gwich'in Indians of Arctic Village, who say that drilling in ANWR will destroy the calving grounds of the caribou their tribe depends on. And even the pro-drilling Eskimos oppose oil developments offshore, because they say that spills under the ice could never be properly cleaned up."