Audubon representative to discuss U.S. oil policy

CALAIS – Jason Kneeland, a grass-roots coordinator for the National Audubon Society’s policy office in Washington, D.C., will talk about efforts to allow drilling for oil and gas in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge during a local visit.

The meeting, sponsored by the society’s Schoodic chapter, will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at the Washington County Technical College lecture hall.

The refuge encompasses nearly 20 million acres in northern Alaska and has been the focus on considerable debate by energy policymakers and environmentalists for the past 15 years.

Opponents of the project say if drilling is allowed, it would take at least 10 years to produce the oil, which would supply only about six months of America’s energy needs, a figure that is hotly contested by drilling proponents, the society said in a news release.

U.S. Geological Survey experts maintain that the United States controls only 2.8 percent of the world’s known petroleum reserves, a figure that could rise to 4 percent if drilling were allowed in the refuge.

Admission to the meeting is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.