US: The US Senate yesterday approved a decision to open up the oil-rich pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska, prompting a rise in oil prices to a record high of $56.46 a barrel.
Opposition Democrats and ecologists described the decision as an irreversible tragedy.
"Is it worth forever losing a national treasure, one of our last great wild places, for a six-month supply of oil 10 years from now?" asked Senator Joe Lieberman.
Drilling is not expected to start on the northern Alaskan coastal plain until 2007 and would take 10 years to come on stream. While reserves are expected to yield about 10 billion barrels, the US uses about 20 million barrels each day.
The US government expects $2.5 billion in revenue from oil leases and taxes over the next 10 years, with production peaking at one million barrels a day by 2025.
However, opponents say the six-month supply will not guarantee energy security. The solution, they say, is not to drill for oil but to wean the energy-hungry country off the fuel.