Would drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge harm the environment?  Well many environmentalists say “yes,” but the facts, especially as they relate to present oil drilling in Alaska, seem to suggest otherwise.   According to the National Center for Public Policy Research, drilling at Alaska’s North Slope has disrupted a mere 2 percent of the 250,000 acre field, and this has had no discernable impact on wildlife.  Indeed, not a single documented polar bear has been killed due to operations at Prudhoe Bay, and caribou numbers have actually increased over the past 25 years.  Since new technologies will further lessen the impacts of oil drilling, it appears alarmist claims about Alaskan development are being put on ice.