SamSaid!

ANWR

     The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is a broad frozen expanse that is the Arctic equivalent to the Gobi Desert  –  or maybe the Kalahari or Atacama. It is the home for a variety of quadripeds –  mostly Caribou  –  who somehow survive, but it also sits on top of a large oil field. George Bush has identified drilling in ANWR as the centerpiece of his progam to make the US more energy independent and less dependent on imported oil  –  specifically from the Middle East. Right now, more than half of the oil we consume comes from Russia, the Middle East and Venezuela. Recent history has shown that US dependence upon OPEC and Middle East oil can be very very chancy. And that is especially true nowadays.

     Yet, the environmental extremists and other loonies of the left are vowing to fight to the death to prevent drilling in ANWR. Just imagine a football field totally covered by snow and ice. Then imagine a small 10 sqft area in the corner of an end zone. That is where the drilling would occur. True, the drilling would be lateral as well as vertical, but the surface area would be quite small. By analogy, the drilling area might consume 1% of an area the size of South Carolina. It doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to understand this issue. For example:

     .  We are nowhere near self sufficiency in oil production, and will not be in the foreseeable future

     .  We are dangerously dependent upon foreign sources of oil  –  especially from the Persian Gulf area

     .  The production from the Prudhoe Bay (Alaska) oil field has peaked and is diminishing

     .  ANWR oil will not make us energy independent, but it will offset the diminishing production from Prudhoe Bay and to some extent will lessen the demands for imported oil

     .  Conservation can also reduce the demand for oil, but it can't be the entire answer for US oil needs. Far from it.

     .  The environmental scare tactics are bogus  — just look at Prudhoe Bay when the same wild claims were made.There are now 3 times more Caribou than there were 20 years ago when the drilling began.

     . An interruption in the flow of oil or a major increase in oil prices can have a devastating effect on the economy.    

     . Shortly,  we will be treated to a Senate filibuster by Democratic Presidential aspirants Biden (Del), Kerry (MA), and Lieberman (Conn). There are enough Senatorial votes to pass the measure to approve the ANWR drilling, but perhaps not enough for cloture (to close off debate). So we will see how the Democratic filibuster goes  –  while the Middle east is aflame and terroism is still alive.

     I wonder if the loonies of the left and the environmental eggheads ever thought of the axiom,  ”every little bit helps”. Even if ANWR is not the answer to oil independence, it sure moves us in that direction. Most folks accept that BOTH drilling and conservation are worthwhile. But not the loonies. Sad.