Our world today is becoming more and more dependent on renewable resources for energy consumption.  Especially when it comes to oil, we are choosing to extract these resources over protecting our planet, the most important thing to our existence.  Oil companies are trying to drain every bit of it from the planet without recognizing any consequences that will follow the process of drilling or burning it.  Chevron is one of these companies and is extremely close to gaining access in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil extraction in the 1002 area, a vital zone to many different species and people.  

The exploration itself will bring multiple 90,000 pound trucks driving through the refuge sending “deafening sounds” through the ground looking for oil and would be followed by many other forms of heavy machinery, vehicles and lodging for workers.  Evidence from past seismic exploration has shown to leave long term damage on the land. When oil extraction begins, the spiderweb infrastructure that they are using will use much more of the land than it looks like on paper, only infrastructure touching the ground is counted.  Things like oil pipelines are not included, so the 2,000 acres that Chevron says they will be using, will begin to multiply. It also puts the Refuge and organisms in it at risk of an oil spill, one of the hardest mistakes to clean up.

 Not only is the 1002 area directly in the migration path of many different species, but it is also calving/spawning grounds for them.  Animals like caribou bears, wolves, birds and fish rely on this place to reproduce. Specifically, the Porcupine Caribou herd consists of about 200,000 caribou that migrate yearly through the entire Arctic Refuge and stop in the 1002 to birth.  Caribou numbers have already been much lower due to climate change, and drilling will have a direct impact and disturb their migration pattern and the number of calves born.  

This animal is not just important to the Arctic’s ecosystem, many Alaskan people, including the Gwich’in inupiat tribe, also rely on the caribou to survive.  The Gwich’in have lived in harmony with the land and the caribou is what allowed them to do that. They have such a strong connection to this animal because it is their main source of food, making up about 80% of their diet, it allows them to live the way that they do. To the Gwich'in the 1002 area is called “the sacred place where life begins” because of the importance of caribou successfully regenerating there.  When caribou numbers drop, the Gwich’in do not have as much to eat, so if there are no caribou there are no Gwich’in. This makes the question of whether to drill or not an environmental and human rights issue. 

We are caribou people.  Caribou are not just what we eat; they are who we are.  They are in our stories and songs and the whole way we see the world.  Caribou are our life. Without caribou we wouldn’t exist”  ~Sarah James

This makes the question of whether to drill or not an environmental and human rights issue.