A counter part of mine in the US posted this last month, He is from Texas and feels very strongly that the US needs to drill in the A.N.W.R this is the plan.
Not according to the professor I had earlier this summer who grew up in Baghdad and lived in South America because his dad was a petroleum engineer.
The class was one of my many computer courses but somehow oil came up. He had a weird accent but I never knew why. Apparently hes been moved around the world quite a lot as a child.
Anyway, he said that we could have zero impact by towing ice blocks to Alaska and sliding them up on the land to the site. They would then bring in the buildings on barges and place them on top of the ice blocks. The ice doesnt melt, so they have a foundation that doesnt harm the environment and will just be melted or crushed when the oil runs out eventually leaving no impact.
They would then use bent pipe drilling to reach all over the area with only one hole (or a couple, but one location). He said they could drill from oil thats like 80 miles away. Maybe it was 8 miles... there was an 8. It was 8 or 80. In any case, that is impressive and seriously reduces impact on the environment.
As far as the caribou, we already have pipelines in Alaska. The caribou that travel through those areas are the largest herds in Alaska because the warmth of the pipes protects the caribou as they migrate. Apparently oil pipelines transport oil at about 130 F which makes a wonderful "winter blanket" for caribou.