This report discusses one major element of the energy debate in the 108th Congress, which has been whether to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in northeastern Alaska, and if so, under what conditions, or whether to continue to prohibit development to protect the area's biological resources. The Refuge is an area rich in fauna, flora, and commercial oil potential. Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge.

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for energy development. The report discusses arguments for and against such development and focuses especially on related pieces of legislation that directly affects the future of the ANWR.

This report describes the several types of waste streams that cruise ships may discharge and emit. It identifies the complex body of international and domestic laws that address pollution from cruise ships. It then describes federal and state legislative activity concerning cruise ships in Alaskan waters and activities in a few other states, as well as current industry initiatives to manage cruise ship pollution.

This report discusses the Department of the Interior's report regarding the environmental effects of building the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline and their recommendation to allow its building as long as certain requirements were met.

The Carboniferous Lisburne Group is a major carbonate reservoir unit in northern Alaska. The Lisburne is folded and thrust faulted where it is exposed throughout the Brooks Range, but is relatively undeformed in areas of current production in the subsurface of the North Slope. The objectives of this study were to develop a better understanding of four major aspects of the Lisburne: (1) The geometry and kinematics of folds and their truncation by thrust faults. (2) The influence of folding on fracture patterns. (3) The influence of deformation on fluid flow. (4) Lithostratigraphy and its influence on folding, faulting, fracturing, and reservoir characteristics. Symmetrical detachment folds characterize the Lisburne in the northeastern Brooks Range. In contrast, Lisburne in the main axis of the Brooks Range is deformed into imbricate thrust sheets with asymmetrical hangingwall anticlines and footwall synclines. The Continental Divide thrust front separates these different structural styles in the Lisburne and also marks the southern boundary of the northeastern Brooks Range. Field studies were conducted for this project during 1999 to 2001 in various locations in the northeastern Brooks Range and in the vicinity of Porcupine Lake, immediately south of the Continental Divide thrust front. Results are summarized below …

The goal of this project was to provide constraints on the subsurface geometry of the vent, feeder conduit(s), and possible intrusive bodies in the Novarupta Basin, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (VTTS), Katmai National Park, Alaska. This research was designed to support the Katmai Drilling Project, a consortium involving the DOE, NSF, other government agencies, and several universities. Our work aimed at providing information to help guide site selection and identify targets for the drilling program. However, our research also has contributed to the understanding of silicic volcanic systems in general. Understanding the subsurface geometry of the vent is essential for accurately modeling the present thermal regime in the vent region and the eruption dynamics. Determining the origin of surficial fractures indicated the effect of compaction and consolidation of tephra and orientation of the depositional surface on fracture formation. Our research plan included (1) completion of a detailed topographic-structural map of surface fractures including spatial distribution and relative displacements; (2) numerical modeling studies that related surface fractures to major subsurface structures; and (3) interpretation of the origin of surface fractures in light of these model studies.