Is it possible to protect our last remaining wildlands from destructive energy development and still have enough energy supply?
Yes. We do not need to drill in our nation’s most spectacular landscapes in order to meet America’s energy needs. Focusing on drilling is a remnant of the past, one that fails to see that energy development in special wild places like Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front or Utah’s Redrock Wilderness is not a solution to our energy problems. It’s a distraction. The solution will be found in American ingenuity — in investing in efficient vehicles, buildings and appliances, and relying more heavily on cleaner, renewable energy resources. For instance, upgrading the quality of replacement tires to match that of tires that come as standard equipment on new cars would save over the next 50 years nearly the total amount of oil likely to be recovered from the Arctic Refuge over the same time period.
