What “hot-button” environmental issues are being debated in the United States?
There are countless debates surrounding environmental conservation in the U.S. at any given time. For example, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a 19-million acre refuge established in 1960 in northeastern Alaska, has been the site of major controversy in the past five years. It is currently estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil, though how much could be feasibly extracted beyond that amount is not known. In 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives approved and the Senate then rejected oil development in ANWR, but the debate is not over. Supporters point out that the development project would create jobs – from 11,000 to 38,000, according to one study – and produce nearly $800 million a year for Alaska. The Bush administration promotes the project as a way to make the United States less dependent on foreign oil. Opponents argue that the oil extracted equals at most a one-year supply of oil for the country, that the oil wo
