The environmentalists just do not get it.
Finally a spark of common sense emerged from the U.S. senate when the other day, the decision to drill in the Artic Natiional Wildlife Refuge or ANWR was approved.
The USA has been held captive by the Saudi’s for too long. With crude oil approaching $60 per barrel, all we hear from the Democrats in our country is that we should use the Strategic Reserve, more conservation, better gas mileage, alternative fuels etc. That is all well and good but in the meantime we cannot abandon fossil fuels now or our economy would come to a total halt. We must look for alternative fuels, improved gas mileage and conserve where possible but the fact remains that we need a steady and reliable source of oil until all of the above happens.
Does it make sense to be at the mercy of the foreign nations for our energy or should we try and reduce our dependence from them? U.S. Senators like Boxer, Feinstein, Clinton, Kerry, Shumer and others applaud the successful attempts to stifle drilling in ANWR. Why? I am convinced that they do not have the American consumer in their minds but only the decision to vote no on anything that President Bush recommends on energy. Former Democratic Senator, Zell Miller in his book “A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat" pointed out that ANWR may hold upwards of 16 billion barrrels of oil which is equivallent to more than 30 years of imports of Saudi oil. The entire ANWR area is about the size of South Carolina and the actual drilling area would would be less than 3 square miles or about the size of Dulles Airport. Zell Miller met with native people in the area and spent time visiting ANWR.
The Sierra Club calls the area “pristine”. “Pristine” is only viewable a few months out of the year and the weather often gets to 50 degrees below zero. How many members of the Sierra Club and the above mentioned Senators have been to ANWR?
We now are importing close to 60% of our oil needs.
In summary to drill in an area of about 2,000 acres out of the refuge’s 19.5 million acres would barely amount to a speck on a map. Is the opposition to Exploring this area stupid or just stubborn? Unfortunately, it might be a little bit of both.
Gary E. Marsella