thanks T, totally agree with every single point, except in my case it is me who is outraged

I'm just outraged it took so damned long to get the drilling started in that ridiculous wasteland.

Dave

The amount of oil pedicted will only support the US at it's present use-rate for 6 months. If the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards were incresed at 5% per year, we could save more than is at ANWR. I bet Dave (above) has never been there, and isn't it funny that he calls it ridiculous? It is the SUVs that are ridiculous, and the saps that believe the Madison Ave hype that made them buy one.

I don't have one SUV, Richard - I have two, thanks.

Answer me this. Why can't we increase the CAFE standards AND get the oil out of ANWR?

Since every bit of real evidence shows no ecological impact from drilling in ANWR, why not do it? No harm and only game. It was a very weak issue for radical environmentalists to pin their hopes on.

And why the hell should I have to go to ANWR to have an opinion of it. From what I've read about the area where they're drilling I'd rather go to Iraq for vacation. That's the wonder of the modern world, you know - I can read reports from other people on what ANWR is like and never have to go to the wasteland myself.

Dave

mwuahaha...

a shriveled up old man will, someday i reckon, gaze upon his two suv's and cackle and revel in his mighty imperious ways and shining brilliance while his great-grandchild looks at a picture book that shows what 'forests' once were like, and changes his grandpa's O2 tanks. ;-)

With a little rearranging, this will be an op-ed in my newspaper tomorrow or early next week. It will be my first op-ed in about three years.

Dave Nalle: Since every bit of real evidence shows no ecological impact from drilling in ANWR, why not do it?

This evidence looks far more real than anything you've asserted, so why should anyone believe your claims?

In summary, development of the Prudoe Bay oil field displaced caribou and disrupted their movements. Similar long-term displacement now appears to be occurring elsewhere, even in the "state-of-the-art" Kuparuk and Milne Pt. Oil fields. Mitigation measures proposed for Arctic Refuge oil fields will likely be even less effective in allowing access to critical habitats for the larger, more densely aggregated Porcupine Herd. The caribou resources at risk in the Arctic National Wildlife for petroleum development far exceed those found at Prudhoe Bay. Development of the coastal plain may well cause a long-term decline in calf survival, thereby decreasing population size over time, with serious consequences for many residents in both Canada and the U.S.

People with SUVs are often brainwashed fools who need such a conveyance due to madison ave hype. There is a great deal of evidence that drilling will harm the area, apparentley you aren't looking hard enough. Did you read about the ravens proliferating due to scraps from the drillers and that the ravens also prey on the migratory birds? How about Sec, Norton "mistakenly" getting her figures wrong? Why not raise the CAFE standards 1st, to show our concern? How can land be ridiculous?

Richard, you hit the nail on the heads. Anyone who drives a gas powered vehicle is a brainwashed creatin just like those idiots who believe in a god or religion. Also, non vegans and Republicans can all die.

Though over population considerations are the way to go, that's not the way to go. :-)

Besides, I bet three-quarters of your friends would be dead if it happened.

(Yes, I do realize I am replying to someone called "Redtard."


Richard, I don't think the people in SUVs are in any way brainwashed, I think they just don't care / don't consider things. And, of course, some revel in the fact that they don't care about anything not manmade.

I think that drilling into this land. We would be risking destroying one of a kind land. Some people dont seem to care if we destroy this land or not, which I think is horrible. I want everyone to be able to enjoy all the beautiful forests in in the world, not just us, but everyone to come. If things keep on going the way they are there won't be any forest for future generations to see. I just want to say that I'm 12 and that no matter how old you are, what you think is just as important as what adults think.

Well, if you are indeed 12 you are a wise 12 and I'm glad you think nature's beauty is worth preserving - naturally.

You could teach some selfish adults a lot of things. Thnak you for stopping by Blogcritics.org, sorry for some of the bad language at the site.

- Temple

>>People with SUVs are often brainwashed fools who need such a conveyance due to madison ave hype.<<

Or people with children who can't stand minivans which ALSO get bad gas mileage. Let's crucify them for wanting to have children.

>> There is a great deal of evidence that drilling will harm the area, apparentley you aren't looking hard enough.<<

I have yet to see any substantive evidence. There's a lot of hand wringing, but all the evidence suggests that the damage from drilling would be minimal. There are almost 100 wells in the area just to the west of ANWR and the wildlife there are still thriving.

>> Did you read about the ravens proliferating due to scraps from the drillers and that the ravens also prey on the migratory birds?<<

They are? Wow, that's a radical lifestyle change for the ravens, since the environment there is too cold to support them and they're scavengers not predators. Perhaps those ravens are the drillers pets? Or maybe you're thinking about some other area where there is drilling?

Dave

Dsve Nalle: I have yet to see any substantive evidence.

There's a vast gulf between what you "see" and what actually exists, but maybe you can't see that.

Saturday I went to one of those "Town Meetings" sponsored by our local Congressman to promote Social Security private accounts, but to discuss other matters also. I was very surprised when one person asked our Congressman why a lot of the Alaska oil was going over seas. This man said he had stood on the docks where the oil was being loaded on the ships and all the ships lined up were foreign ones. Our Congressman said, "well, it goes to the highest bidder and it is cheaper for foreign ships to transport it to their countries than it is for it to go to our refineries". So, it seems to me it has nothing to do with our need for oil. It doesn't make sense for us to import it while selling our oil to others. I guess it is the same as our large grocery stores importing a lot of fruit. Our apple orchards are being sold off in the area where I live because we can import apples so much cheaper and the farmer's are going out of business.

Marianne,

I had heard that as well from a couple of friends in Alaska, and looking over the Anchorage Daily News. And as I pointed out above, even if it did have anything to do with our need for pil - it slows down R&D for alternatives. It's a rare sign of this country's moral weakness.

And since someone else commented, I can't be accused of pimping my own ride. Therefore if anyone wants to see the slightly rearranged and better headlined op-ed that appeared on our op-ed page at the Casa Grande Dispatch in AZ (where I work), here's the link

The editor did me the courtest of linking the cartoon to oil overuse. I was sandwiched between Jonah Goldberg and William O' Reilly. And I can't believe I just dry-heaved at the picture that created.

anyhoo.

The reason the oil from Alaska ships to China and Japan is that they're closer to Alaska than our refineries - most of which are here in Texas - are.

However, keep in mind that it's a global oil market, and the main reason that our oil prices are going up is that China has massively increased its oil consumption as it modernizes and uses more cars and more power. Every bit of oil we produce and ship to China does a little bit to cut their demand, and that ultimately lowers oil prices world wide and of course, for us.

Because it's a worldwide market, it doesn't matter where a specific barrel of oil goes, so long as it becomes part of the general flow. Every barrel we send to China means one barrel available cheaper to us from Mexico or Nigeria or wherever.

Dave

You Bunch a tree huggin commies. I cant beleive you we have one chance to help the economy, and lower gas prices and u all say no. You guys should fight in Iraq cause thats the only other way we will get oil to drop prices. If its only 1.8 million acres to spare than so be it theres over 1 trillion of the same thing in antartica. For the rest of u guys who who say it will depleet oxygenb go fight the damn people in the rainforest who are cuttin it down for a little more housing. Which produces way less jobs than a refinery then gettin workers in the refinery and then drivin it to gas stations.
For the rest of you people who say we dont have other fuels, shoot yourself because we have ethanol an hybrids.