WATCH C-SPAN 2 NOW!!!

Folks, I think there is a bit too much unwarranted hype about the "vast pools of oil" yet to be tapped in Alaska.

What was being discussed is the petroleum believed to exist under the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Some preliminary drilling was done years ago, and despite the results being held confidential, it is believed that there could be up to 20 or 25 billion barrels of oil yet to be discovered in ANWR. Now, that sounds like a LOT, and it is, but it needs to be put in perspective. That would make it similar in size to the other fields that have already been drilled in the Prudhoe Bay area, which is nothing to sneeze at, but it would come NOWHERE close to giving the US "energy independence" even briefly. That amount of petroleum represents the amount that the US currently uses in roughly ten months.

The fact is, the entire coastal plain of the Beaufort Sea, excepting ANWR, has been explored and drilled, and the geological formations are such that not vastly more than 20 or 25 billion barrels can be expected to be found there. We could get lucky and find, at the extreme, maybe 40 or 50 billion barrels, but that still would only represent less than two years' current US consumption. Any hopes that further drilling in Alaska are going to make the US independent of foreign sources of oil just have no realistic basis in fact.

all i know is if i had lived in alaska id want the question of drilling permission to be yae'ed or nayed from my own damn mouth and f*** what every/anyone else says. I personally dont understand what would be the huge benefit of doing so would be, i understand there is a significant amount of oil to tap from the earth, but if our motive to do so is to lower gas prices or to ease some kindof crunch... its not going to do either of those things, so i say leave it alone.

oil drilling + respect for the environment = sqrt -1. it just doesnt exist.