In a May 14 column, published at Newsmax, E. Ralph Hostetter made the following claim about drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:
No recognition is given to how little of the ANWR reserve is brought into play for the entire development of the oil drilling site that would yield 1 million barrels of oil a day from its billions of barrels in reserve.
The footprint, so to speak, that is necessary for full development of a drilling operation to deliver the 1 million barrels is a mere 2,000 acres.
This tiny footprint represents one one-hundred thousandths (0.0001) of the total area of ANWR’s 19 million acres. This is equivalent to one large farm in a state about the size of South Carolina.
In fact, according to Media Matters:
[T]he Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted on February 28 [2005] that while drilling supporters have pushed the 2,000-acre figure in an effort to minimize the potential environmental impact, “[o]pponents counter that far more area would be affected by roads and pipelines connecting drilling pads.” The Los Angeles Times reported on March 30, 2002, that “the Sierra Club says a 2,000-acre footprint could still support a broad level of development,” and Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope noted that “one scenario that was consistent with the 2,000-acre footprint … would sustain 53 drilling pads and 250 miles of roads and pipelines.” These roads and pipelines would extend well outside the 2,000 acres[.]