Question of the Day: ANWR Drilling Policy

Question of the Day developed by William Prothero.

Question:

ANWR Drilling Policy Debate (Acrobat (PDF) 118kB Jun16 04) Activity Sheet and Reading

The author's calculations yield the following:

  • An average US car mileage increase of five miles per gallon would reduce oil consuption by more than the expected peak annual oil production from drilling in ANWR.
  • An average US car mileage increase of ten miles per gallon (recommended as feasible by the National Academy of Sciences) would replace one quarter of the total amount of recoverable oil in ANWR each year, based on the most optimistic figure of 10 billion barrels of oil.

References and Notes:

Question of the Day is a method used by Dr. William Prothero in his Oceanography Course at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Question of the Day page with more examples and tips on using them is part of the Starting Point: Interactive Lectures Module.