The 1968 discovery of oil

Oil
The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System led to an oil boom. Royalty

revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward. That same year, not coincidentally, Alaska repealed its state income tax.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling more than 11 million U.S. gallons (42 megaliters) of

crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is

seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Pebble Mine.