National politicians, like other mega-predators, continually seek niches to exploit. With gasoline prices nearing $2.00 per gallon, Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) offers a prime example of an exploitable political opportunity. Environmentalists have a rare opportunity to take advantage of this situation. Here's how.

On March 9th, US senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) and 30 of their colleagues, mostly Republicans, introduced legislation to open 1.5 million acres of the 19 million acre ANWR coastal plain to oil exploration. This action followed two days of hearings on high gasoline prices.

Alaska historically has produced about 20 percent of our domestic petroleum supplies, mainly from Prudhoe Bay. The state derives 80 percent of its revenue from oil royalties and taxes. Politicians fear the end of this bonanza is in sight as the Prudhoe fields are depleted. Hence, Sens. Murkowski and Stevens have extremely strong incentives to find another revenue gusher.

Americans have become accustomed to cheap fuel and adjusted their consumption accordingly. The popularity of ever more, and larger, SUVs is no accident. Perhaps, politicians reason, with high gas prices citizens outside Alaska will finally accept drilling the ANWR and overcome Greens' objections.

Oil finding technology has improved dramatically. Three dimensional seismographs and fiber optic sensors are commonplace in the oil patch. These tools give geologists good data on the location of even small pools of oil. Further, these technologies have dramatically increased the economically recoverable potential of each well. As a result, the cost of finding each new barrel has been greatly reduced which explains why, since the early 1980s, oil supply has expanded almost twice as fast as consumption.

In view of this scientific and engineering success, why has the price of oil risen so high and so suddenly? The major oil producing nations' cartel, OPEC, has constrained production. Although cartels are fragile structures (as each nation has incentives to cheat by increasing output to capture high prices), for now OPEC is holding firm.

History suggests that such stability won't last. Thus, the environmentalists' opportunity is now. I propose the ANWR oil prospects be made available to environmental organizations. Here are two major arguments for this move.

First, environmental groups including the Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy have accepted carefully controlled exploration on their lands. The Rainey Preserve is Audubon's largest wildlife sanctuary, 26,800 acres of southern Louisiana marsh lands. Audubon has permitted carefully regulated drilling there since the mid-1950s. With close monitoring, there has been little if any significant negative impact on the marshes or wildlife disturbance. Learning from experiments like Rainey, careful, environmentally sensitive exploration leaves a lighter footprint on the land. (Projected development at ANWR could only disturb 2,000 surface acres.)

Second, the revenue from these leases could be used to preserve lands or improve habitat elsewhere. Audubon has used the millions of dollars in royalties from Rainey to further protect lands and purchase additional habitat. The Nature Conservancy is attempting to replicate this success on its Prairie Preserve near Texas City. By controlling the conditions under which oil and gas exploration and production occurs, Green groups can enforce environmental standards and use the revenue to pursue other ecological objectives.

I suggest that the ANWR lease be divided into five or so areas. Environmental groups would be permitted to bid not money but rather environmental projects to be funded from the oil revenue generated in each area. The National Academy of Sciences would evaluate the bids. Based on their recommendations, the Minerals Management Service of the Department of Interior would award drilling rights to the most environmentally valuable and promising proposals.

Sierra Club, for example, may bid to recover 10 urban brownfields, restore 100 miles of specified salmon spawning streams, and buy easements to protect the habitat of an endangered species. Other groups would offer competing bids: for example proposing to preserve 10,000 acres of ancient redwood forests in northern California.

This process would force such organizations to consider the environmental opportunities lost by protecting the ANWR coastal plain. It would also test the sincerity of claims that this small area is of such high value that its preservation trumps all other opportunities for environmental protection.